Things Learned
by Don't Trust the Snake
Summary: A collection of things Itachi Uchiha has learned from or about his younger brother, ranging from funny to random to serious. Various other characters enter sporadically. NO shonen-ai
1. Cooking

_Disclaimer: Sadly enough I do not own the Uchiha clan… or anything Naruto related, actually. Dang, does that depress me. :(_

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**1. Cooking**

Sad to say, I must admit that I can't cook. I'm a terrible cook. I'm so bad I wouldn't even feed my cooking to my worst enemies (actually, I probably would). But really, it's pretty bad. Of course, it isn't like a Shinobi actually needs to be able to cook. It's just a useful skill. Not essential or anything. It just drives me insane that I can't do something.

Espeically when that something can be done by my little brother. Because Sasuke, you see, cooks better then my mother. And he's all of eight. I mean, our mother doesn't even cook anymore. Why does she need to, when she has Sasuke?

Though I must say, watching Sasuke cook is one of the best things in the world.

Being an Uchiha, Sasuke is an insanely talented, kind of reserved kid. Being himself, he dedicates himself completely to whatever he is doing at the time, and he remains cool and calm and emotionless, as well as very, very intense on what he is doing.

My baby brother is eight years old. And I have never seen someone take cooking so seriously. I swear that he considers cooking just as much a technique as any gen or ninjustu. And despite the fact that he does it the same way every single time, watching him never gets old.

So on this particular day, I pull up a chair, straddling it with my arms resting on its back, and watch as my little brother gets ready to cook.

He comes into the kitchen, his eyebrows drawn down on his forehead, his lips pursed, his eyes sharp. That child does not look like he's eight. With deliberate steps, he walks over to the counter, and opens one of the drawers underneath the counter, pulling out his _very special _apron. Typically of Sasuke, the apron is black. Completely.

After he puts the apron on (triple tying it in the back, as always), he carefully pins his bangs back, two pins on each side, so that his hair won't fall in his face. Somehow he always manages to get his bangs pinned back in exact symmetry. But that's Sasuke for you. Once his hair is safely pinned, he washes his hands thoroughly and pulls out all his special pots and pans. And they are most definitely HIS. He gets very, very angry if anyone else uses them.

He arranges his pots and pans in that careful way that only he understands, then begins pulling ingredients out of the cupboards and baskets and nooks all around the kitchen.

My eight-year-old brother removes his very special kitchen knife from its place among the kitchen utensils, and begins chopping up vegetables, meat, and whatever else he is putting in the soup he's making. All his actions are precise and practiced, and the look on his face makes it seem as if he's performing surgery, not cooking.

Then, to my surprise, he starts talking.

"Cooking is like jutsu in a lot of ways. If you get it wrong…well, it doesn't work."

...And why in the world was he talking to me about cooking?

"But it's easier than jutsu, of course. Because you don't die if you make a mistake. And once it's done, you get to eat it."

...Right. That was deep. But he's only eight, so I give him a break.

"I see," I say politely, arching an eyebrow at his back.

"If you are so good at jutsu, why are you so bad at cooking?"

"So blunt, little brother."

Sasuke turns his head and fixes me with a full-out Uchiha glare. Goodness, that boy is getting good at that. He hates it when I call him 'little brother.'

"Well, you're terrible at cooking."

That's kind of a fact, so I don't bother denying it. "True."

Sasuke stops for a moment, turning around while his onions simmer in the pan behind him.

"Why do you cook the onions before you put them in the soup?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "Just do."

So loquacious, him.

I motion towards the food behind him. "Do continue. I like watching you. You're so mature when you cook." I know he can hear the teasing tone in my voice, but he ignores it, studying me with his black eyes, his lips pursed in a clearly thoughtful manner.

Finally, he speaks, turning back to his pots and pans. "Get up."

Again, I arch an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Get up. You're helping me."

And who does my baby brother think he is, to be ordering me about?

"_Excuse_ me?"

My brother may be an Uchiha, but he's also a scheming little scoundrel, and when he really wants something, he's going to get it, no matter what he has to do. So he turns around, juts his bottom lip out, just slightly, makes his eyes go huge, raises his voice an octave, so he sounds younger, and says, "Please?"

Stupid baby-face Sasuke.

Trying to pretend that it is actually my own decision, that I'm just indulging him and not falling prey to his stupid little kid pleading face, I stand up and let out a deep sigh, making sure to sound as bored as I possibly can, "Fine..."

That baby face quickly turns into a smirk that is downright evil.

But I still go to stand beside my little brother, who barely comes up to my chest, and he hands me his special kitchen knife.

Whoa. That was big. Both literally (I swear the knife is as big as my arm) and figuratively (Sasuke _never_ lets anyone touch that knife).

I take the knife, and he points to the remaining vegetables. "Cut those up," he says. "Not too big, not to small."

I do as he directs, and watch him as he starts going through our spice cupboard, pulling out jar after jar and sniffing them. Really, what type of child does things like this at age eight? When he gets a bit frustrated because he can't reach some of the spices, I go ahead and grab them for me. Typically, he doesn't bother thanking me. This is Sasuke we're dealing with, after all.

Once I'm finished chopping vegetables, he directs me to put them in the main pot, which I do. Then he fries a countless other things I would never have thought to put in a soup, and tosses all that in the pot as well. Really, I thought you only needed one pot to make soup. Not three pots and four pans. Goodness, I have a strange sibling...

After Sasuke seems satisfied with the vegetables and meat, he starts adding spices. He measures them as precisely as he does everything else, then carefully stirs them into the soup.

Then he is done.

He washes the pots and pans out with a deliberateness that makes me laugh as I regain my seat and watch him, holding back my teasing comments for the moment, since I'm not entirely certain that he won't pick up that enormous knife and throw it at my head.

When he is at last satisfied with the cleanliness of his utensils, pots and pans, he comes and he stands in front of me, regarding me with a seriousness that defies his age. I don't speak, because I can tell that he is contemplating something very deeply, and so for a moment, the two of us are wreathed in silence.

Then, eventually, he says, "You know, I don't actually know how to cook. "

...All right then. I hadn't been expecting him to say that.

I just raise my eyebrows at him.

"I just pretend like I know what I'm doing," Sasuke tells me, "And somehow, it always turns out right."

Then he walks away, just like that, leaving me to wonder exactly what the point of that whole thing was.

But somehow, I can't stop myself from practicing later that day. And later that week, I cook a meal for my family.

No one died.

It was weird.

A couple weeks later, our mother explains to me that Sasuke, no matter what he may act like, needs me to be better than he is. I am his older brother, after all. I have to be better, so that I can always protect him. And I have to be better at everything.

Even cooking.

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_Hmm. That was probably awful. Oh well._

_Oh, and I love reviews! They bring me joy._

_Huh... So I went back and reread this... It's not my favorite. But I minorly edited a few parts, and now it's a tad better, though I could still DEFINITELY use some work... I shall have to return once I finish this whole thing..._

_Many and much thanks to all!_

_~SNake_


	2. Trust

_Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Duh._

_Oh, and by the way, these are not necessarily in chronological order, nor are they entirely canon. And Itachi is so not like Itachi. But whatever. It's fanfiction._

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**2. Trust**

I've never thought of Uchihas as being trusting kind of persons. In fact, I tend to see my clan as the exact opposite of trusting. We tend to be cold and uncaring as a whole, and we frequently don't trust even each other.

I didn't ever think of that as a bad thing.

"Sasuke! Get down from the tree!"

My little brother didn't laugh, obviously, but the smirk that graced his young features clearly said that he was quite enjoying scaring me half to death.

He climbed higher into the tree, making me regret bringing him out here with me to train. But he had begged and pleaded, and since he's way too good at that, I had relented and brought him with me. But I hadn't expected him to shoot up the tree like a squirrel when I'd dared him to climb it. And now he was refusing to get down. And, unfortunately for me, he seemed to be able to move far better in trees then I could. I claim that because he's so small.

"Sasuke! Get down! You're going to fall!"

In response, my little brother took a flying leap from the branch of one tree to the branch of another tree, nearly making my heart stop.

"Seriously, Sasuke! If you get hurt, mom and dad are going to kill me!" I was going to kill myself as well, but I didn't bother throwing that in there.

He stood up on the branch—which was far too thin for comfort—and began running along it. He seemed perfectly balanced, but that didn't stop me from breaking out in a sweat, almost wringing my hands with worry. Which was so stupid. I mean, come on, who wrings their hands? But if Sasuke fell… Oh, I didn't even want to think about that.

"Come on, Sasuke!"

He stopped at the end of the branch, dropping back on his heels and tilting his head as he looked at me, reminding me uncannily of a raven.

"Are you scared?" he demanded.

Out of my wits. But I wasn't going to tell him that. "Just get down, Sasuke! I don't want to have to deal with you getting seriously injured!"

"I won't."

"You might! Now get out of the tree!"

Sasuke gave me that evil smirk of his and stood again, saying, "Come and get me."

Besides the fact that he moved faster than I did among the branches, he had repeatedly picked branches barely thick enough to hold him. Branches that wouldn't hold me. I suspected that was on purpose. He knew I couldn't get him down by force.

I tried to reassure myself. He must have done this type of thing all the time.

I made the mistake of asking him about that.

Trying to sound calm and reasonable, I said, "Well, you seem confident, at least. So, do you do this often or something?"

My brother made a flying leap to another branch, landing way too close to the edge. "No. I've never done this before."

"ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?"

Sasuke looked surprised at my outburst, but I kept right on screaming at him.

"WHAT TYPE OF IDIOT ARE YOU? DO YOU HAVE NO REGARD FOR YOUR SAFETY? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Only someone totally brain-dead wouldn't have realized by this point that I was freaking out with worry, and by no means is Sasuke brain-dead.

After recovering from his initial shock at seeing me completely lose my calm, my little brother's face went really, really serious, and he started climbing down the tree with far more caution then he had been using just seconds before.

I didn't think I'd be able to pass off my freaking out as anything other than worry. Dang. Now I was going to seem weak.

I seemed even weaker when Sasuke's feet finally hit the ground, and I couldn't stop myself from grabbing him in a bear hug. When I pulled back, I was trying hard not to cry. I'm such a freaking sissy! "You could have died," I said gruffly, blinking hard. "And then mom and dad would have killed me."

"I wouldn't have died."

"You could have! Not even you could have kept that up for too long without having any experience! You would have fallen!"

Sasuke fixed me with his dark eyes and said, "If I had fallen, you would have caught me."

For a moment, I was struck speechless by the absolute surety in both his eyes and his voice. Then my mouth automatically opened and said, "What if I hadn't reached you in time?"

"You would have." Again, that absolute surety. "I trust you."

"You-"

"No matter where I fall, you will catch me. I know that."

How could someone know something like that?

Sasuke smirked at my stunned face. "You don't trust many people, do you, Itachi? You should try it sometime. It's nice."

Then he turned and started walking towards home, his hand shoved in his pockets as he began whistling tunelessly.

I find it strange that it was my little brother who taught me that you don't have to go through life alone. It's odd that it was him who taught me how to trust. Because the image of himself he presents to the world is very cold and untrusting. But I know that if no one else, he trusts me.

Because I'll always be there to catch him if he falls. He's my baby brother, after all.

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_Reviews are so happy… __**hint, hint**_

_Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I actually have wrung my hands on a few occasions… It's kind of a weird thing to do. _


	3. Manipulation

_Disclaimer: Sasuke isn't mine… Sniff._

**3. Manipulation**

I am _never_ listening to my younger brother again. Especially not when he makes his eyes go huge, and he makes his lower lip quiver. Because he can talk me into WAY too much when he's like that.

It shouldn't be possible to manipulate people like that!

Stupid, stupid, stupid little brother. I cannot believe this.

Who would have thought Sasuke could look so innocent? I should have known better! It was so _obvious _that he was planning something

I am such an idiot!

I can't believe I didn't see through his scheme when he came up to me acting all sorts of innocent and told me he just wanted to try something. I shouldn't have believed it! But I did, and by the time I realized what was going on, I was tied to a chair and completely helpless.

Stupid, manipulative, ridiculous brother!

I am not really walking down the streets of Konoha with my nails painted black, am I? Where did Sasuke even get black nail polish? Never mind, I don't even want to know. Arg! I should have known! He's too old to be making those innocent faces at me!

_Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Stupid Sasuke, stupid nail polish, and stupid me.

And typically, even though he had the nail polish, Sasuke _just happened_ not to have any nail polish remover. Which would be why I'm walking through Konoha to find out if Sakura has any nail polish remover. At least if anyone else sees me, they'll probably pass it off as some sort of angsty teenager thing. Sakura had better not say anything. Maybe if I give her my homicidal look… That usually works.

Who knew Sasuke could be so manipulative? He seems so cold and heartless and aloof. I didn't think he would stoop so low as to trick his _own brother_ into getting his nails painted.

Ah! Please tell me this is all some sort of awful nightmare!

I am never, ever, in a million years listening to Sasuke again.

Stupid.

Oh, I can't even believe this.

_So… I was thinking of nail polish (black), and something that happened with my own brother… thus was this part born!_


	4. Attractiveness

_Disclaimer: Well, once upon a time I realized that I didn't own Naruto... TT_TT It was a sad day._

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**4. Attractiveness**

Let's be honest here. I am stunningly attractive. No, this is not pride or arrogance or anything of the sort on my part; it's called truth. Seriously. And since the image I present to the world is a cool genius/prodigy, it's only natural that I have girls falling all over me. Of course, since the image I present is also kind of creepy, a lot of the girls are too scared to even look at me, but they still adore me, if only from afar.

Or…they did.

For some reason, the girls have been almost distancing themselves from me. I still hear the name "Uchiha" whispered in their giggly little conversations that they have, where they cover their faces with their hands and peek out through their fingers while tittering away and blushing. But strangely enough, none of the girls have been chasing me like they used to. It's true that most of the older ones, the ones who first formed my dedicated fan base, have left, but just because I was a little older never stopped the younger ones from pining after someone they couldn't have.

Well, it never stopped them until now, apparently.

Because now, even if I'm walking right by them, they don't so much as spare me a glance. Why? What strange phenomenon has sprung upon the world that the girls don't faint when Itachi Uchiha walks by?

For a while, I was left in utter confusion.

Then I found out.

It happened like this: I was sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor, meditating, when I heard a knock. Seeing as it's kind of rude to ignore people who knock on your door (not that I haven't done it too many times to count), I got up, went downstairs, and opened the door.

Ino was standing there, bouncing on her heels, grinning that slightly evil grin of hers while she twirled the loose piece of blond hair around a finger.

That was strange. Ino had briefly been a member of my fan group, before the odd occurrence of their apparent abandoning of me, but I would never have expected her to show up at my house.

I was so surprised that I very nearly lost my cool attitude and started off saying "Uh..." which is really not very bad-boyish. Fortunately, I caught myself just in time and instead stared coolly down at her, asking, "What are you doing here?"

She didn't even flinch. Just kept right on rocking back and forth on her heels while she smiled at me.

"Sasuke-kun said I could borrow some kunai," she said.

Why did she need to borrow kunai from Sasuke? Even though Sasuke has a ridiculous amount of weapons stashed all over the house, most other genin have their fair share of weapons as well. Had this blond somehow managed to lose _all _of them?

But who was I to stand in the way of Sasuke's friends?

So I stepped aside and let Ino into the house.

She almost charged inside, stopping just past me and looking around eagerly.

All right, then…

"How many?" I asked her, still keeping my face and tone cool.

For a moment, she looked confused, then her face cleared and she said, "Oh. Seven, I think."

I went to the nearest stash, which happened to be under one of our couches, and Ino followed me over to the couch, still inspecting our house.

"So," she said, as I pulled out the weapon-filled bag and began sorting through it, "Sasuke spends a lot of time training, right?"

"Pretty much all his time."

"Well, what else does he do?"

I looked up, trying to figure our what exactly Ino was after.

"Not much," I said honestly. That kid is kind of obsessive, let me tell you.

"Well, what?"

I just handed her the seven kunai and raised my eyebrows at her.

She pouted, and though she was clearly about to say more, that was the moment the door burst open.

After nearly knocking the poor door off its hinges, the very subject of discussion came stalking through the doorway, looking unusually murderous. I mean, Sasuke looks murderous often enough, but at that moment he looked _seriously _murderous.

I was about to ask him what was so wrong that he had returned from training with his friend/rival Naruto before dark, but I wasn't able to get a word out before Ino flung herself at my little brother with a cry of "Sasuke-kun!"

As the blond genin attached herself to him like a leech, Sasuke's expression turned even more murderous, and then he fixed his decidedly black gaze on me and snarled, "You let one of _THEM_ in the _house_? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

That was a very unexpected reaction.

"But-" I began, trying to figure out what was going on here.

Sasuke cut me off before I could make another sound, yelling, "And I thought that I could trust you!"

With that overly dramatic parting note, he pried Ino off of his neck and flung her across the room. (Literally. I had to catch her.) Then he fled up the stairs and into his room, where he slammed the door shut with enough force to shake the house. In the silence that followed, I could hear the sounds of all five locks on his door sliding home.

With a sigh, I put Ino on her feet, expecting to have to deal with a sobbing, hysterical girl who had just been introduced to the scary side of Sasuke. Well, the scarier then usual side.

To my surprise, Ino didn't even look phased. She just stared up the stairs with soulful eyes and said dreamily, "I think he's starting to like me back. He didn't try to kill me this time."

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. My entire thought process ground to a halt as slowly, what Ino had just said seeped into my brain.

She liked him?

She liked my little brother? As in, liked him romantically?

I had planned to say something intelligent, but all that came out was "Nng?"

What the heck is that even supposed to mean?

"He's so attractive," Ino gushed, batting her eyelashes at the stairs while a smile that couldn't be described as anything but goofy adorned her features.

Finally, I managed to get an actual word out. _"What?"_

"And now I've been in his actual _house_!" the girl squealed, clapping her hands together in glee.

I figured it was time to get this girl to leave, if only because my poor, reeling mind couldn't even make pretenses at thinking while she was gushing/squealing/clapping/sighing/whatever else she was doing.

I didn't bother asking her to leave. I just picked her up, carried her over to the still open door, and deposited her outside.

I shut the door on her dreamy cry of, "I love you, Sasuke-kun!" more disturbed then I had been in a long time.

For a few moments, I just stood there, trying to make sense of it all, then I had the bright idea to go talk to my brother.

I nearly ran up the stair, my mind now churning like crazy, and I wouldn't have bothered knocking on Sasuke's door but for the fact that his five locks stood in my way.

So I was forced to stand outside his door and knock.

As expected, the first thing I heard was, "Leave."

Huh. It sounded like he had his head buried in his pillow.

"Sasuke," I called through the door, "Why are you back so early from training?"

Silence met my query.

"You _never_ come home early."

More silence.

"Seriously, what happened?"

"Why should I tell you, you traitor?"

"Remind me again why I'm a traitor?"

It sounded like something was being thrown violently across the room. "You let one of _THEM _in the house!"

The capitalization and italicizing of that word had been clear, so I asked, "And exactly who are _'THEY?_'"

After a long moment of silence, during which I worried that I wasn't going to get a response, Sasuke finally replied, sounding as if he were holding back a shudder, "The _girls._"

Finally. We were getting somewhere.

"What's wrong with the girls?" I asked, though I was pretty sure that I already knew.

"They won't leave me alone!"

And that pretty much cemented it. The reason that the young and female persons in our village no longer flocked to me was because…they were flocking to _Sasuke. _It was _his_ name being whispered in their conversations. My _little brother _had taken my place as the heartthrob.

Holy wow.

For some reason, I really hadn't seen that coming.

I decided to leave my poor, besieged brother alone, to try to compose himself after the attack on the one place he considered safe, and I left to ponder this new development.

I ended up walking around Konoha, and was able to divine from the questions I asked various (female) villagers that somehow, my little brother had become, in the eyes of the girls, smoking hot. And, erm, some other terms that I didn't feel comfortable using to refer to my little brother.

It's kind of strange, being replaced as the bad boy/heartthrob by your own sibling. I may still be stunningly attractive, but I am not, apparently, as stunningly attractive as my own little brother. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, but, if nothing else, watching Sasuke's reaction to this whole thing is going to be _hilarious._

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_Personally, I think both Uchihas are stunningly attractive. But I like Sasuke slightly better. And this part was actually meant to be slightly shorter…_


	5. Emotions

_Disclaimer: …duh…_

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**5. Emotions**

On a general level, Uchihas don't really show emotion. I don't actually know why, but apparently it's genetic. I don't show emotion, my parents didn't ever show a lot of emotion, unless it was relating to my skills, and even then, it wasn't ever a large display.

Sasuke…he tried so hard. He really did. It was clear that he was never _quite_ as good at hiding his emotions from others, though. Especially me. I can read that kid like a book.

Well, I could.

That changed the night I came home and found my little brother sitting on the ground, with our mother's head in his lap and my father's limp hand held in his. The tears that he could no longer cry had left streaks across his dirty face, and the image he presented as I walked through the door had been heartbreaking. He had looked up at me, completely emotionless, as one hand clenched convulsively around that of our father, and the other ran through our mother's blood-soaked hair.

Their deaths were hard for me. But I wasn't the one who had seen them tortured and then murdered before my eyes. I was just the one who came home to find the bodies of my parents and the shell of my brother.

I would have expected him to retreat into himself; to curl up in a little ball and hide himself from the world and all the pain it holds. He didn't. He trained longer, he talked less, and he acted as if everything was normal. And for all appearances and purposes, it was. _No one_ could read anything different in his actions, in his speech, in the way he lived his life.

Then one night, when I had unintentionally stayed up far too late, I heard a sound coming from my brother's room. Obviously, I was not going to let this go uninvestigated, so I slipped out of my own room, figuring that if my brother was doing something so late at night, at a time I was usually asleep, then it was something that he didn't want me to know about. Therefore, I _had_ to know about it.

As I got closer to his room, I was surprised to discover that it was music that I heard. Then I got even closer, and it all made sense.

For his seventh birthday, our parents had given Sasuke a flute. He, in his attempt to better tame his emotions, so that he could be like me and so our parents would _finally _look at him with as much pride as they looked at me, had begun to use the flute to express himself. Most people didn't understand that. I did. And now, as I sat outside his locked door and listened, I understood how he could be so impassive.

The song he was playing had been one of our mother's favorites. I remember her humming it all the time.

The notes of the flute were clear, uninterrupted by such things as crying or uneven breaths. I wished that I could see my brother's face.

After that, I frequently stayed up far later then I should have, just to see if Sasuke would play again. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. He played all sorts of songs, but the majority of them were ones that my parents had liked. The first song I heard him play was often repeated. And even though I expected to hear the sound of tears, even just once, the notes were always perfectly serene.

The flute playing lessened considerably after Team 7 was formed, and Sasuke became gradually more relaxed. There were still days, of course, but notably fewer.

Then one day, it stopped completely. And with its stop came the slightest shows of emotion. An irritated snap when I did something he deemed wrong. A snarl at one of his friends. A tensing of his shoulders when certain subjects were mentioned. A lose of all the warmth he had slowly and painstakingly been developing towards Naruto and Sakura.

I was worried. I tried to talk to him about it, but he wouldn't talk back. He wouldn't even listen. He wouldn't even look at me.

I almost—_almost—_wasn't surprised when a bruised, battered and bleeding Naruto showed up on the doorstep and told me that he hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving. He told me how Sasuke had almost killed him, how Sasuke had said that in the end, power was all that mattered. He told me how emotionless my little brother had been. But he hadn't been able to kill Naruto. He had just left. He had defected. To _Orochimaru._

Orochimaru was the one who had killed our parents. Sasuke has never said that, but there was enough information pointing to the snake man to know with surety that he was responsible for the downfall of the Uchiha clan.

Why, then, had Sasuke defected to _Orochimaru_? He hated him. I knew he hated him.

Didn't he?  
The years Sasuke was gone were hard. Hard for me, hard for Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, hard for anyone who had ever cared. I wondered how my little brother expressed himself. He hadn't taken his flute.

Naruto swore he would bring Sasuke back, but I knew that if Sasuke came back, it was going to be alone.

He wasn't exactly alone when he finally showed up back in Konoha. He was accompanied by three strange and kind of creepy looking ninjas, the body of Orochimaru, and the flattest expression I have even seen on an Uchiha face. And that is saying something, believe me.

By the time Sasuke and his three strange new companions were taken before the Hokage, nearly half the village was following the group, and Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and I were all waiting with the Hokage.

I don't know which surprised everyone most. Sasuke's return or the fact that all the Hokage did was take the body of Orochimaru, say, "Good job," to Sasuke, and then tell us all that things would be explained shortly. Then he told me to take Sasuke and his companions back to the Uchiha compound, and then for all of us who cared to meet the next day, and things would be set in a clearer light.

Before we left, Sakura wrapped her arms around Sasuke and buried her face in his chest, saying she was so glad he was back. I noticed that the girl with the vibrant red-pink hair who stood behind Sasuke, arms folded across her chest, scowled darkly at the Haruna girl's actions.

Naruto flung himself at Sasuke and screamed at him about what an idiot he was, and how he should never have done anything so stupid, and why had he done that in the first place, and why had he finally decided to come back, and who were these three strange ninjas, and he was such an IDIOT!

The water-nin with the huge sword was fingering it in a somewhat disturbing manner, and the large teen had a frown on his face. Apparently Sasuke's new companions were a protective little bunch.

I was kind of worried that either Sakura or Naruto was going to end up injured, but Kakashi noticed the actions of the three strange ninjas as well, and he pulled Naruto away, absently patted Sasuke on the back, and said that we should probably go.

Silently, I started off, leading the way to the Uchiha compound. Sasuke knew the way, of course, but he seemed content to stay behind me. Neither he nor his three companions had spoken a word since they had entered the village, but now I could hear them murmuring among themselves, though their voices were too low to be heard. The three crowded around Sasuke, and it was obvious that he was in charge.

When we reached our home, I silently directed the three ninjas to empty rooms, and just as silently, they followed my pointing finger into the rooms, after surreptitiously looking to Sasuke for confirmation. With the slightest tilt of his head, a blink of his eyes, a slight relaxing of his face, he dismissed them into the rooms, and they went without complaint.

Then it was just us.

I wondered if this was as awkward for me as it was for him. If it was, he remained just as impassive as I did.

We stopped outside his room. Without a word, without a look, Sasuke opened the door, entered his room, then closed the door behind him.

For a few minutes, I stood there, staring at the wood of the closed door, then I turned and walked to my own room.

I carefully monitored the house, and just as I suspected, one by one, the strange ninjas, who I reasoned could only be a team—Sasuke's team—crept through the house into Sasuke's room, where they stayed for a few minutes, then left once again. The feeling I got was almost as if they were his children, and needed the reassurance that he still cared. I wondered if he gave that reassurance.

Once I knew that the three were back in their respective rooms, I figured that it was my turn. So I grabbed something from off the table near my bed, and made my way to my brother's room.

His door was unlocked, like I thought it would be, so I just opened it and walked in.

I know that I didn't make any noise, but I also knew that silence wasn't going to stop my brother from knowing I was there, so I wasn't at all surprised when my brother, from his seat on his balcony, where he sat curled up with his knees drawn to his chest, whipped his head around, face twisted with anger, and snapped out, "I thought I told you-"

Then he saw that I wasn't one of his team members. His mouth closed over the first words I'd heard him speak in a long, long time, and he jerked his head away from me.

He didn't want me to see the tears.

Too late.

Silently, I crossed the room and crouched down by my brother, who now knew that I wasn't going to ignore the fact that he had been crying. He kept his face lifted, not bothering to hide the streaks on his face that the now-stopped tears had left

Somehow, he still managed to keep his face emotionless.

After a moment of just watching him, I mirrored his position and turned to look at the half moon, just like he was doing.

For a while, both of us were silent.

Then Sasuke spoke.

"Crying releases toxins," he said vaguely, as if trying to give me a reason he was being so obviously emotional.

Did he feel like he needed a reason?

Apparently.

"And goodness knows you should always get rid of toxins, little brother," I said lightly, keeping my voice smooth as I turned to look at him once more.

That started him crying all over again, leaving me with no idea how someone could cry that many tears and remain so absolutely silent.

What was I supposed to do? It was my baby brother.

I leaned over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, fully expecting him to push me away and yell at me for thinking he needed stupid comfort.

I didn't expect him to curl into an even tighter ball and start sobbing aloud, pushing himself against me like he was back to being four years old.

I held him for a while, letting him cry, letting him release all the emotions he must have kept bottled up when he was with Orochimaru.

Finally he was done, and as expected, he pulled away and angrily tried to erase the traces of tears, scrubbing his face with his hands.

He looked surprised when I handed him the flute, which was what I had grabbed from my room.

His face went from stunned to distrustful as he demanded, "You listened?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. Duh. I was Itachi Uchiha.

He accepted that. And the flute.

He turned the flute over and over in his hands until I said, "I've heard you before. Just play it."

I smiled at the glare he gave me, then focused intently on his face as he raised the flute to his lips and began playing that song. The first one I had heard.

He looked… thoughtful. I hadn't expected that. I thought that maybe he would look sad, or angry, or hurt, or young. But he just looked thoughtful.

At first, the notes were a little hesitant, but he hadn't played the flute since the last time he had been here, and that was a long time ago. Gradually, the notes got stronger, though Sasuke's expression didn't change.

We were both silent for a while longer once he had finished the song and opened his eyes, but I noticed that he was fingering the instrument in a manner that suggested barely contained nervousness.

"What do you think about?" I finally asked him.

For a while, he was quiet, then he said slowly, "I think about them. About everything they said to me, about everything they didn't say to me. About what I said to them, and about what I never said to them. About the night they died…"

He shivered, and I knew it wasn't because of the cold night.

"What happened that night?" I asked quietly. He had never spoken to me about it, and had only given the barest details to the Hokage.

My brother shook his head. He might be all sorts of emotional tonight (for an Uchiha, anyway), but he wasn't ready to part with that information just yet.

I desperately wanted to ask him about Orochimaru, because I knew there was something going on that no one understood. I was no idiot. But I didn't think he'd be willing to share.

So we stayed there, sitting all night in a silence that wasn't quite companionable, and wasn't quite comfortable, but was about the closest we two remaining Uchihas could get to such things.

It's strange, how we two choose to express our emotions. In music, in silence, in denials that we care. I guess that's always kind of been the Uchiha way. But I didn't complain when, as the sun began to rise and Sasuke murmured that his team would be waking, he leaned over and hugged me. Just once, just briefly, but it was an expression of emotion that he had needed to show.

And that's okay every once in a while. Even if you are an Uchiha.

* * *

_So… that was ridiculously long. Huh. And probably terrible. But that's what came out, and as long as I'm still writing, I'll take what I can get._

_Random Notes: I had Orochimaru be the murderer because of something I want to do slightly later._

_And there's that one random picture of Sasuke playing a flute… I love that picture._

_I had a friend who was "attempting" to make me feel better tell me that crying releases toxins. And I nearly hit him, but whatever. _

_Oh, and I'm semi-planning on explaining the Orochimaru situation, unless no one really cares, and they don't want to know._

_**-tries to hypnotize viewers through the computer screen-**_

_Review… Review… Review… _


	6. Reading

_Disclaimer: Well…once upon a time (like, every day?), I was sitting at my computer looking at Sasuke and wishing that I owned him… But I don't. That's probably a good thing. I don't think I would trust myself with that boy. ;)_

* * *

**6. Reading**

I never liked reading. To me, books were boring and useless, and had no point in life. Even the graphic blood and guts books that my few friends tried to get me to read couldn't keep my attention. After all, why read about it when you could be out doing it? Reading just seemed so completely useless. And the only person who seemed to share my disregard for the written word was my brother Sasuke.

Then one day I came home to find my brother curled up on the couch, face intense, and eyes fixed on…the _book _in his hands?

"Traitor!" I yelled. "What are you doing with that?"

Sasuke didn't so much as look at me. All his did was say, "Shut up, Itachi."

I was not about to be so lightly brushed off.

"Why are you reading, Sasuke?" I asked, making sure that "reading" sounded like a dirty word when I said it. "I thought we had agreed that reading and books were useless." I didn't get a response, so I added, "And reading doesn't help you become a ninja!"

That usually worked (Sasuke is the most ninja-obsessed kid I know), and I thought for sure that I would get a rise out of him, but he just turned a page and kept right on reading.

Grr.

"Where did you even get that book?" I demanded, walking closer to the couch.

"Kakashi," my brother replied, turning another page. Apparently he was a fast reader.

Hearing my brother's answer, I paled. "You got that book from Kakashi sensei? It's not one of his Icha Icha Paradise books, is it?" I had tried reading one of those once, and had been far too horrified and embarrassed to continue. It had been so bad I had very nearly forbidden Sasuke to continue being in a team under the instruction of someone perverted enough to read those books. But Sasuke would have tried to kill me if I had done that, so I had let it slide. And Kakashi really does have incredible talent.

But there was no way in all the world that I was going to let my _baby_ _brother _read one of those books. I'd like to keep him innocent for a bit longer, thank you _very_ much.

I leapt forward, trying to snatch the book away from him, but he just caught my hand and used it to throw me over the back of the couch. In retaliation, I wrapped the same hand around his wrist and took him with me over the couch, and managed to slam him into the ground while I landed on my feet.

Glaring briefly up at me from his position on the floor, Sasuke jerked his wrist out of my grip and said, "It's not one of Kakashi's." He stood, brushing himself off while his eyes returned to the pages. "He got it from Kurenai. She recommended that I read it."

I tried to snatch the book again, in case he was lying, but he whirled away from me, and on reflex, one of his hands flung out a kunai, which I caught easily enough.

"What have I told you about throwing weapons in the house?" I admonished him, making him glare at me again.

"Seriously," I said, "let me see the book."

He grunted in a non-committal way, refusing to look at me, and I let out a sigh, saying, "Fine! At least tell me what it's about."

He didn't respond for about five minutes, just rapidly scanned the words and turned the pages. Then, abruptly, he snapped the book shut and threw it at me.

I caught it, of course, but I was still somewhat surprised.

Tossing his kunai back to him, I exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"You want to find out what it's about?" he finally said, meeting my eyes. "Then you read it." The challenge was evident in both his eyes and his voice. Even in the way he tilted his head.

Dang little brother. He knew I would never refuse a challenge from him, even if it was something as simple as this.

"Fine," I said, relaxing myself so my voice was back to its usual monotone. "Maybe I will read it."

Sasuke smirked at me. "Doubt it."

"You doubt me?"

"I don't think you can overcome your fear of books…"

A low growl crept up my throat. My little brother was accusing me of being afraid. That was some serious stuff there.

I stalked forward in my most menacing manner, and was pleased to see the barest trace of discomfort in my little brother's eyes.

Waving the book in his face, I said, keeping my emotionless monotone, "You think I'm _scared _of something like a silly book? I will read this if it kills me."

Sasuke erased all traces of nervousness and smirked at me again. "Hopefully it will."

That was it. I sat down on the couch, opened the book, and began reading.

Take that, Sasuke.

I caught a hint of a smile on my brother's face. Not a smirk, an actual smile. But I let it pass, thinking it was probably nothing.

I sat there all evening, reading furiously, while my brother moved around the house, arranging things so that they suited his OCD personality, cooking dinner, sharpening various weapons, practicing chakra control, and watching me with something that _might _have been amusement.

But by the time I was about a fourth of the way into the book, I stopped paying attention to what was happening around me, and started focusing entirely on the book. It was…actually pretty good. Okay, really good. Okay, I pretty much loved it.

When I finally surfaced after having finished the book, reading it from cover to cover (copyright, author's notes, and dustcovers included), I was surprised to find that I had thoroughly enjoyed it. By a lot. And I wanted…another book.

Momentarily disoriented, because half of my brain was still back with the characters in the book, I looked around and found Sasuke sitting on the ground in front of me, eyebrows raised in expectation.

Grudgingly, because I couldn't seem too eager, I said, "I guess it wasn't terrible."

"Do you want the next book in the series?"

I nearly jumped out of my seat as I exclaimed, "It's a series? No way!"

Judging from Sasuke's smirk, that was the response he had been hoping for.

It wasn't until three weeks later, when I was of the firm belief that reading and books were heaven on earth, that Sasuke told me he had been an avid reader since he was nine, but seeing as I seemed to abhor books with every fiber of my being, he had hidden this fact and pretended to agree with me, even though he was just waiting through all those years for a chance to spring a book on my unsuspecting self, knowing that I could never turn down a challenge.

Since I had an image to uphold, I tried to beat him to a pulp for lying to me, but he did a good job of holding his own, and I let him off after a couple of hours (we can fight each other for a LONG time).

I never told him thank you, but I'm pretty sure that he knows me well enough to see how grateful I was that he had forced me into reading.

* * *

_I read everything in the book. Seriously, everything. Front, back, inside, outside, beginning, middle end. If it is in any way part of the book, it will be read by me. I tend to be very thorough when I read._

_If you review... I will be happy. And, uh... you will have to endure through another part of this story... though even if you didn't review, I would still add more. I'm not done yet, you see._

_BUT! The point is that you should review this story. Seriously. Yup. Even if you hated it. At least TELL me that you hated it. I love reviews!_


	7. Harsh and Gentle

_Okay, my Naruto-related muses have all left me desolate, so what I came up with is kind of… I seriously don't even know. I don't know if you'll get it. So I'm apologizing right now, because it's just slightly, like, off or something._

_A reminder: Characterization changes throughout these sections, because, as I believe I said way at the beginning, they are not necessarily connected, and I feel that some need to be written with the characters OOC, and others in character._

_Oh, and just in case anyone was wondering, these are all unbeta'd._

**7. Harsh and Gentle**

* * *

Given our family history, it isn't much of a wonder as to why we are kind of harsh. While our mother did a mostly good job of being a mother, she was kind of….well, for lack of a better word, detached. I blame our dad for that. He was…not a kind person. He didn't view either of us with much emotion. But he viewed me with more pride and acceptance than he ever viewed Sasuke, and Sasuke, in an effort to be what our father wanted, made himself the picture of everything cold.

While I deal with the world by appearing as calm, controlled, and cool as I can, the method he has developed for dealing with the world is by reacting to everything like it is going to hurt him. He treats everything with a harshness that sometimes worries me, and ever since he's come back to Konoha with his Team Taka, as he calls them, he has been even more harsh than usual.

He still accepts Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi, of course, and will grudgingly consent to the presence of a few others, like Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, and Tenten on her good days. He doesn't talk to them much, but he never has been a very chatty person, not even when he was really little. Most of the people he tolerates more than make up for that, though. Naruto, of course, doesn't ever shut up, Sakura still gushes her heart out to my brother, though with slightly more restraint than she used to have, and even quiet Hinata will talk to Sasuke sometimes, while he just listens to her.

He still spends a fair amount of his time at the Uchiha compound though, seeing as it's been so empty for so long, and most likely will be for many years yet to come. It's somewhere he can be more alone. I don't actually see him all that often, however, and I talk to him even less. Not that we ever really talked. We never really needed to. But anyhow. I don't see him often, because though he will spend time with me every once in a while, he spends the majority of his time with Team Taka. _His_ Team Taka. The ones he treats so harshly.

Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu. They are very strange, the three of them. And it's strange how they rely on my little brother. Sometimes I almost feel as if I'm watching a little family. I just can't decide whether Sasuke is the father, the mother, or both of them. Because his little team goes running to him for everything imaginable. I've seen Jugo run to him in a panic, afraid that he is going to lose his control. I've seen Suigetsu stand in front of him and demand that they spar, _right now._ I've even seen Karin fly to him shrieking that she can't get her hair to do what she wants it to. Really, they go to him for everything.

And I have yet to see him react entirely favorably.

He snaps at Jugo and tells him that he _will not _lose control, and Jugo, scared of my brother's spinning red eyes, will flee. He literally snarls at Suigetsu that he has better things to do with his time than spar with a pathetic excuse for a ninja and sends the water-nin creeping back to wherever he was lurking with a murderous expression on his face. He stares down his nose at a hysterical Karin and tells her that her hair has never looked good, and never will, no matter how long she spends trying to do something with it, and she pouts and stalks away, biting her lip to keep from looking sad.

Sharingan can piece through so many things. I wonder why he can't see that those three team members of his would do _anything _for him. It almost hurts me to see him treat them like he does. It's as if he holds no regard for their interests at all. Though they can barely exist without him, he constantly ditches them for the former Team Seven, and as they refuse to go anywhere without him, they are stuck at the Uchiha compound, sitting on the ground and feeling miserable. I asked them once why they didn't train. They all looked at me like I was an idiot. As if they would train without their leader, their parent. As if they could do anything without them.

And when he comes home, they all fall into line behind him, like obedient little children, endure every sharp looking and harsh word, and look at him when his back is turned like all they want is for him to turn around and tell them that he cares.

He never does.

He just ignores them as they trail behind him like lost puppies as he walks through Konoha with Naruto and Sakura, who glance back nervously every once in a while, and he ignores them as they sit and watch him train with his friends, clearly wishing they were invited.

I know because I watch them. And I don't understand it.

So finally, I ask him.

The day had been what I described: Jugo and his worry about losing control, Suigetsu and his wanting to spar, and Karin and her hair. And Sasuke's, harsh, uncaring dismissal of all three.

I was waiting outside the house, in a tree by his balcony, since that's always where he sits at night. I never stay up long enough to actually see him fall asleep. Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if he ever sleeps. Is he some sort of insomniac?

I'm not sure why I've stayed in the tree so long, but something tells me that it isn't quite the time to go down yet.

A few minutes later, I find out why.

Sasuke is sitting lengthwise on the long bench he keeps out on his balcony, with one leg drawn up, hands clasped around his calf, and the other leg extended on the bench. He is leaning back against the balcony railing, with the door a couple of feet past the foot of the bench. His head is tipped back, his eyes closed. His face looks even more pale than usual in the moonlight, and his expression is oddly—almost disturbingly—serene. I wonder what he's thinking. He spends a lot of his time out here.

Then I hear the faintest sound of a door opening.

Immediately, I am alert, my relaxed perch within the tree's foliage instantly becoming aware and ready for anything. Who would be coming into my brother's room at such a late hour?

Well, Team Taka, apparently, because one by one, they file onto the balcony, while Sasuke does nothing other then drop his extended leg to the ground, so that Karin can sit down on the bench, while Jugo and Suigetsu opt for sitting on the ground. Suigetsu sits against the railing, mirroring Sasuke's position while just underneath him, and Jugo sits down on the ground in between Karin and Sasuke's legs.

Well, well, well. For once, they actually look like a team.

I relax again, sensing that this could be interesting. After all, Sasuke was obviously expecting them.

They are all silent for a while. Sasuke is still looking serene, Karin is looking pensive, Suigetsu is looking emotionless, and Jugo is looking apprehensive.

Finally, Sasuke opens his eyes, and glances briefly at all three members of his team. None of them look back at him.

Sasuke raises his eyes to stare at the full moon above, and I listen intently, because I can tell he's about to speak.

His voice is soft, and though I can hear it by straining, I am willing to bet it's soft enough that even the three ninjas sitting by him have to listen carefully.

"Well done, Jugo. I think your control is getting better."

That's all he has to say before Jugo lets out a huge sigh, and relaxes completely, a smile on his face as he turns to look at Sasuke.

"You are improving, Suigetsu. Give it a little more time and even _I_ won't be able to beat you."

"Liar," Suigetsu responds, but he doesn't bother trying to stop the grin that spreads across his face, revealing sharp teeth. He, too, turns to look at Sasuke.

"Karin, your chosen hairstyle doesn't always allow for the best looks, but it always looks fine to me."

Karin actually bounces slightly on the bench, then turns her adoring eyes to her leader.

They are all looking at him now, all of them smiling like he's just passed them the world on a platter.

He drops his gaze, meeting the eyes of each one of them, looking relaxed, peaceful, and very gentle. Strangely gentle. Unbelievably gentle.

Where did an Uchiha learn such gentleness?

After looking at, and probably silently communicating with each of them, Sasuke nods once, then returns his gaze to the sky.

His still smiling team stands, and Suigetsu briefly rests a hand on Sasuke's head, Jugo touches his shoulder, and Karin whispers, "Thank you."

He keeps his eyes on the moon above, and they file off the balcony, back through his room and out his door, and to their own respective rooms.

It may be the single strangest thing I have ever seen.

I never thought I would live to see the day that my little brother complemented a girl on her hair. Well, actually, complemented a girl at ALL. It's as if he has a whole other personality.

Then he shuts his eyes again and speaks, raising his voice so that it can be easily heard.

"Are you going to come down, Itachi?"

I suppress a grin.

Heh. That's my little brother.

I make my way through the branches, then jump and land easily on the balcony.

Sasuke opens one eye and looks at me, then closes his eye again and folds his arms over his chest.

I sit down on the bench.

Neither of us talk, though I'm burning with curiosity. I know if I stay quiet for long enough, he'll be the one to break the silence. And hopefully he'll explain.

I don't know how much time passes, but eventually Sasuke shifts, so that both feet are on the ground and he's bracing himself with his hands on either side of his legs against the bench, his head down, hair hanging in his face.

As I thought, he begins speaking, banishing the silence.

"Living with Orochimaru was…hard." He grimaces. He doesn't speak of this subject often. I don't necessarily think it's hard for him, I just don't think he wants to. "I wouldn't say that the four of us bonded, but we got along with each other fairly well. After I killed Orochimaru, they needed a leader, and I needed a team." He gives a small shrug. "It made sense."

I stay quiet.

"But what they want…they want someone strong. Someone hard. Someone who won't be hurt. Because if their leader is hurt, they will be hurt too. They want someone who doesn't care. They want someone who can protect them, who can think logically, who can do what needs to be done, no matter what the situation. They want someone they could theoretically remain impassive to. I give them what they want."

"Then what was that?" I ask him.

He knows that I'm referring to the scene I just witnessed.

"That," he says, straightening, "was what they _need_."

I consider that for a moment. "Hmm. So they want someone who hates them, who they could hate if they really needed to, but they need someone who loves them, who they can love back?"

Another shrug. "In a lot of ways, they are children. I try to balance it out. It doesn't always work, but day has become when I need to be harsh, and night has become when I need to be gentle."

He is acting very old tonight. It almost makes me sad.

"Do they come every night?"

"Nearly."

"Always together?"

"Always together at first, but sometimes they come back alone, because there's something they want to talk to me about."

Since I'm curious, I ask, "Do you sleep much?"

The look he gives me is sharp.

"_That_ doesn't matter."

"I see."

Again, we are silent, and when words come again, I am the one who speaks.

"It is an act? How sad they are?"

He frowns. "No. They hate it when I leave. But they don't want me to stay, because they are trying to prove that they are strong. Once they feel comfortable here, safe, they'll let me bring them out more, maybe they'll even spar with everyone else, and act normal. Right now…they're trying to hide behind me, so they won't get hurt."

"They do a good job," I murmur. "But I never thought I would see you be gentle, Mother Sasuke." My words are slightly teasing.

He hits me—hard—on the arm for my jibe about being a mother, then he sobers, meets my eyes and says, quite simply, "One of the things I have learned is that sometimes you have to be harsh, sometimes you have to be gentle. All you have to do is know when."

And I can't argue with that.

* * *

_Honestly, I don't think this one makes sense. I mean, _I_ get it, but I'm not sure if everyone else will… Seriously, tell me if it's completely stupid and totally unintelligible. Because I kind of lost myself while I was writing it._

_If reviews equaled love, I would probably get a lot less reviews than I do. But since you are not required to love me or my story, just read it and comment, reviewing should be easy, right?_

_Oh, and many wondrous thanks to my mysterious reviewer "Iggy," who has, I believe, given me four reviews. I feel such an awesome and mysterious reviewer deserves theme music. (insert theme music of your choice here)_

_Thank you all!_

_~Snake_


	8. Words

_I don't own freaking anything. Sad._

* * *

_**8. Words**_

When he was six, Sasuke became obsessed with words. Not talking, mind you, just words. Words like _microscopic_ and _tenacious_ and _assiduous _and _undulating_ and _belligerent_. Words like that. Do you know how strange it is to have your little brother come into your room and tell you that he's infuriated due to the increasing lack of continuity among the officiators of the basic shinobi techniques?

Let me tell you, shall I, that it's _weird._ I mean, I always understand him, but most six-year-olds just don't say things like that. And really. Is it necessary to say such things when there are far simpler ways to say things? For example, instead of say that you are "infuriated due to the increasing lack of continuity among the officiators of the basic shinobi techniques," you can say that you think your teachers suck because they can't ever make up their minds. Really, is it that hard?

But, as I found out, sometimes those words are what you really need to express yourself the way you want to.

I discovered this one day while I was laying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling and not really thinking about much of anything. I became aware of a presence at my open door, and I turned my head to find Sasuke standing there, arms folded across his small chest, looking at me through narrowed eyes.

It isn't actually an unusual look for him, so I just raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

For the longest time, he didn't reply, and I sat up, swinging my legs off the bed and watching him curiously. I waited a few more minutes, then asked once again, "What is it, Sasuke?"

He studied me for a little while longer, then brushed a strand of hair out of his face and said in his serious six-year-old voice, "I overheard some people talking about you."

I was instantly alert. From his seriousness, it couldn't have been good.

"What did they say?" I asked urgently, because Sasuke seemed kind of worried about it.

"Well," he said, frowning, "they were talking about your appearance, and they said something that I thought was… disturbing."

"What was it?"

His frown deepened, and he said, very slowly, "They said that your appearance is somewhat…_effeminate._"

I raised both eyebrows at the sheer ludicrousness of the situation, and scoffed, saying, "What idiots."

Then Sasuke hesitated.

Sasuke _does not _hesitate.

Before he could say anything else, I was on my knees in front of him, holding his hands (because back then he would still let me) and demanding, "What's wrong, Sasuke? What happened? Did they do something to you?" Oh, they had best not have done something to him, because if they had laid so much as a finger on him, if they had so much as _insinuated_ a threat or insult, then they were going to DIE. I was going to beat them to a pulp, rip them limb from limb, scatter their body parts across the land and then burn all the individual pieces. I was going to—

"I agree with them."

It took a moment for that to sink in, and slowly, slowly, my mental rampage/killing spree came to a stop.

I blinked at my brother.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Say _**what**__?_

Sasuke looked a little worried.

I shook my head. I must have been hearing things.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I must have heard you wrong. "What did you say?"

Sasuke bit his lip, looking decidedly apprehensive. "Uh… I would rather not repeat myself."

I struggled to control my breathing, trying to stay calm. It couldn't be, could it…?

"Please, Sasuke," I said, and I remember how his eyes widened at my use of the word "please." "Tell me what you said."

He looked down, playing with the fingers of his hands, which I had dropped due to potential shock.

"IsaidIthinkyou'reeffeminate."

"What? Speak more clearly."

Sasuked cleared his throat, looking up and meeting my eyes. "I said," he told me, speaking quite clearly, "that I am forced to acknowledge that you are indeed somewhat effeminate."

" …"

"Itachi?" He sounded scared

"…"

"Are you mad?"

"…"

"Itachi…?"

"…"

"Itachi, please say something!"

My eyes snapped back into focus and I stared hard at my little brother, who looked like he wanted to sink into the ground. "Who are these people who were talking about me?" I asked in a growl.

"I-I don't know their names, b-but I can show you where they are." He was so scared that he was _stuttering_. He most likely thought I was going to do something to him.

Oh, no. Not him. Definitely not him. But there were others, however…

I grabbed him and swung him up on to my back, snarling, "Give me directions."

Within a few minutes, we were in a clearing near the forest, standing before the five boys who Sasuke assured me were the ones who had used…_that word_ in describing me.

I put Sasuke down, told him to stay where he was, then advanced on the five deathly white and stammering ninjas.

It was then that I discovered how effective words could be. I mean, my fists, feet, head, back, elbows, and everything else I was hitting those boys with were effective too, but the yelling that accompanied all this was oddly cleansing.

"HOW DARE YOU FILTHY, PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR NINJA EVEN SPEAK ABOUT SOMEONE SO VASTLY SUPERIOR TO YOU! HOW DARE YOU EVEN VOICE YOUR RIDICULOUS OPINIONS ALOUD, WHEN ALL THEY ARE GOOD FOR IS TO BE TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT, ALONG WITH YOU! YOU BELLIGERENT, CRAVEN, DEGENERATE, ANTAGONIST IGNORAMUSES! YOU RAPSCALLIONS! YOU DISGUSTING, PUSILLANIMOUS, CONTEMPTIBLE VILLAINS! REPULSIVE, ODIOUS, EGREGIOUS, UNREFINED, VULGAR, OBSCENE, ABHORRENT, PARASITIC HOMO SAPIENS! SICKENING, HEINOUS, NEFARIOUS, VILE, ADDLED MASS OF ENTRAILS! WRETCHED, DEPRAVED, COWARDLY, INFERIOR, GRIEVOUS, UNBEARABLE IDIOTS! YOU THINK _I_ LOOK LIKE A GIRL? YOU'RE THE ONES WHO ARE GIRLS!"

I think it was the most I've ever said at one time, actually.

By the time I was done, the five boys were spread out across the field, moaning and clutching various body parts. One of them was even stuck in a tree.

"Well," I said, turning and walking back to Sasuke, who was staring at me with a wide-open mouth and huge eyes.

"Come on," I told him, motioning for him to follow me as I walked past him.

I have to admit, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I had just beaten the tar out of five confident ninjas, while verbally expressing myself to great effect.

"Huh. Me, effeminate? I dare them ever to call me _effeminate _again," I said. "I dare ANYONE to call me that. Right, Sasuke?"

"…"

I decided I hadn't beat up those five enough.

"HOW DARE YOU FILL MY LITTLE BROTHER'S MIND WITH SUCH INSIDIOUS, CAPTIOUS, REVOLTING THOUGHTS! WHAT TYPE OF CRAZED, REPUGNANT, PERVERTED, REVOLTING PIECES OF SLIME ARE YOU? SUCH ATROCITIES SHOULD NOT EVEN BE ALLOWED TO EXIST! YOU…!"

It was a long day.

Since that time, I have never been quite so loquacious, but I thank my brother for informing me, in his odd, six-year-old way, that it's okay to use large words.

And I have to admit that it's kinda fun to yell at people when they have no idea what you're saying to them. Every once in a while, I think that maybe I should do it more often…

* * *

_I actually do this frequently. When I get mad, I get wordy. By a lot. And I have a friend who, when she was about six, would seriously talk a lot like that. I remember one time we were talking about wolves, and she referred to the gray wolf as a _"Canis Lupis." _I think she was five._ _Prodigy children. I tell you. She's seriously my favorite, though… I adore my friends to death._

_Many and much thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Again, I cite my wonderful reviewer "Iggy," and also my new reviewer "midnight-phoenix1997," as well as (again) anyone and everyone who has ever reviewed any of my stories. You guys are my heroes._


	9. Unexpected

_So, just in case y'all can't tell, I tend to update kind of…sporadically. I write when the urge takes me, and if the words aren't coming, it makes sense that I don't write them, yeah? But if anyone has some odd desire for me to update more regularly, do tell._

_This part here brings forth my first pairing… GASP! I probably ruined it, though… Sigh. Ah, well. Here ya are._

_Oh, and random note: Nothing I write is beta'd. Just in case y'all were wondering._

_Disclaimer: …duh…_

* * *

**8. Unexpected**

Sasuke is forever scaring me and stunning me and shocking me. I don't know if he does it intentionally or unintentionally, but I do know that he gets a perverse joy out of it each time. I sometimes wonder how much of his life is dictated by what I don't expect him to do. Probably not very much, but I do think there are things he's done that he would never have done if I hadn't been so confounded by them.

Therefore, it is needless to say that when my brother (who, sadly, is not so little anymore) finally came home with a girlfriend, it was the most unexpected person in the world.

Now, this may be a terrible thing to think of your own sibling, especially one who's younger than you, but for the longest time, whenever I thought of Sasuke and relations that were in any way romantic, I immediately pictured my younger brother being the type to have hot, torrid romances with scary women, like Sakura and Karin. And, uh, don't get me wrong. That isn't to say that they can't be fine people, they're just…You know, they have their scary moments. So I was a little, well, for lack of a better phrase, put off when I discovered that Sasuke had taken both of his female companions aside and told them, in his blunt, harsh way, that it would never work out, he would never like them as anything other than friends, yes, Sakura should go on a date with Naruto the next time he asked her out, yeah, Suigetsu probably did like Karin just a little bit, no, it was not tearing him up inside to say this to them, and duh, he had always felt like this.

Sakura took it surprisingly well. After a moment of stunned silence, she just shrugged, patted Sasuke awkwardly on the arm, and said that maybe it would be better for them to be just friends after all.

Karin didn't take things so well. She tends to not take much of anything very well. She still hasn't come back since she burst into tears and ran out of the room, screaming and sobbing and swearing her head off. Sasuke thinks she'll be fine, though, because he sent Suigetsu out after her.

Seeing as the two scariest women I figured either of us knew were now out for the count, I have to admit I was vaguely worried, in a strange, older-brotherly way about the romantic future of my sibling.

Then he started getting really, really quiet. As in, more quiet than usual quiet, which for Sasuke, means that it was like he was dead. Only he walked around and looked disturbingly serious and thoughtful. Which most dead people don't do.

I didn't actually worry too much about that, because he does that every once in a while, but he hadn't looked so thoughtful in a long time.

Then one day, while I was in the kitchen, making dinner, I heard the door open.

Obviously, that in and of itself is not an uncommon occurrence. I knew it was Sasuke, of course, because while I could tell that someone had come in, they didn't make any noise at all. But usually if he came home around dinner time, he would come straight to the kitchen. Instead, I felt him make his way towards the stairs.

I frowned, popping my head out the kitchen door, but he was on the stairs and out of sight by that time. And for some reason, his footsteps on the stairs sounded heavier than usual.

Weird.

For some reason, I didn't think much of it.

When he didn't come down in the next hour, I went outside to see if he was on the balcony. I got the odd impression that he had been right until I went to look.

After about another hour, I felt him leave, by way of his balcony and one of the handy trees near it, and all I could think was that he had left his shoes.

When he came back, I asked him, "What were you doing?"

He shrugged. "Just thinking."

Right.

This chain of events was repeated three more times over the course of two weeks, and in a casual, natural seeming way, Sasuke managed to avoid me every time I tried to so much as get a glimpse of him during these times. And one of those times I could nearly swear that I heard him talking to himself. He was hiding something, and I wanted to know what it was.

The fifth time that he entered, disappeared, and continued to remain out of sight, still with the heavier than usual footsteps and the odd thoughtfulness, I decided I had had enough. I was going to confront that kid if it killed me. Which it wouldn't, obviously. I still trusted myself to be able to kick my little brother from one village to another if need be.

To my surprise, however, he interrupted his own routine by coming down the stairs instead of leaving by the balcony.

Not one to miss an opportunity, I went charging into the main room, exclaiming, "What are you doing, Sasuke?"

When I came to a stop in front of him, he was all I noticed until he said, quite evenly, "I'm taking Hinata home."

…

Then I saw the pale, black-haired, lavender-eyed girl who was standing off to the side and slightly behind Sasuke, smiling shyly.

"Oh," I said, my brain quickly processing the events of the past little while, and coming to the one conclusion I would never have thought of, which is why I never did.

"Hinata," Sasuke said, turning to the girl, "I don't think you've officially met my brother. "Hinata, Itachi Uchiha, Itachi, Hinata Hyuga."

She bowed to me, dropping her large eyes to the ground, and I automatically bowed back.

"Pleased to meet you, Uchiha-sama," Hinata said quietly, and I managed to reply, "Likewise."

With the barest trace of a smile on his face, Sasuke said, "If you will excuse us. I'll be back in a little while."

I surprised myself for once by being able to wait patiently on the couch for my errant brother to return, and not trailing him and dragging back by that ridiculous spiky hair of his. Oh, and on that subject, did you know that's natural? Seriously. He goes to bed and wakes up with that pointy thing on the back of his head.

Anyhow. If nothing else, the time gave me the opportunity to work some things out, like why his footsteps always sounded heavier than they should have. He must have been carrying the Hyuga girl.

Whoa. Sasuke carrying a girl? Voluntarily? Holy… Whoa.

I remained the picture of calm until my brother walked through the door, an uncharacteristic soft, thoughtful smile on his face. But as soon as the door was shut, I pounced on my sibling and pinned him to the door, demanding, "What the _heck _was that?"

Sasuke's face went from mildly dreamy to colder than winter as he grabbed my arm and pulled it away from his throat, touching it gingerly, as if it were a piece of garbage. "That," he said icily, "was my girlfriend."

I had figured as much, so all I did was take a step back and ask, "And for how long has she been your girlfriend?"

He pursed his lips. "Six weeks, now."

I balked. My little brother had kept something like _that_ from me for six freaking weeks?

"_What?" _I exclaimed. "Six weeks?"

A nod.

I held back my instinctive fist to my brother's head, instead saying, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"How many times has she been over here?"

"Eight," Sasuke replied. At my horrified expression, he said, "You were gone two of those times. You were really distracted once, and you seem to be aware of the other five."

Despite the semi-reassurance that he was offering me, I was still stricken. What kind of a ninja would miss something as totally obvious as their own brother bringing their girlfriend over? If it had been just once, maybe I could have forgiven myself, but EIGHT times? I very nearly wanted to sink into the ground and die.

"What do you do while you're here?" I asked him, rubbing a hand against my forehead.

He shrugged again. "Mainly just sit, either on my bed, my floor, or the balcony. Sometimes we talk."

They just…sat there? Talked? Seriously? Again with what I assumed my brother would be doing. I was kind of expecting violent making out or something. Not…just sitting.

"Why her?" I asked, trying to get the image of my brother making out with the Hyuga girl out of my mind.

Silence.

I looked at Sasuke. He looked down.

"Something the matter?" I asked, worried.

He shook his head no.

Eventually he muttered, "Because she treats me normally. Because she's…kind. Gentle."

I could have sworn that my eyes nearly bugged out of my head, but since Sasuke's face remained as impassive as ever, I guess that my physical reaction wasn't near as big as my mental one. Thank all deities for that.

"Because she's _kind?"_ I repeated, flabbergasted.

A short nod.

"And that matters to you?'

Another nod.

Who would have thought.

"And she likes you back?"

"Apparently."

"_Why_?"

Immediately after I asked, I realized that may not have been the wisest thing to say, since Sasuke was, after all, one of the best ninjas in the village, as well as being drop-dead gorgeous, but all Sasuke did was shrug once again.

"I haven't figured that one out yet."

Okay, okay. So this girl had managed to make Sasuke like her, make him thoughtful, make him smile, and make him show some semblance of humility?

_Dang_. What talent.

"She's coming over again tomorrow," my little brother said, and I turned my attention back to him. "I hope you don't mind."

The tone of voice he was using clearly said, _You had best not mind,_ so I just said, "Ah, no. I don't mind."

"Good."

Figuring that what he had to say had been said, Sasuke walked past me, and started towards the stairs.

I stopped him, calling, "Sasuke!"

He froze, one foot on the first step. He tilted his head towards me to show that he was listening

"I-" I hesitated, making sure that I wanted to say this. "I think you made a good choice."

Low and behold yet another shock, he gave me a full smile.

As he disappeared up the stairs, I sank on to the couch, looking after him.

A smile drifted across my face. Huh. Sasuke and Hinata, huh? Who would have known.

Well, I guess I should have. After all, it was unexpected.

* * *

_Lately, I have been overtaken with the strange urge to write all my "you's" as "ya's"… And I have no idea why…_

_Anyhow. Reviews make me all sorts of happy, and some of the reviews I got for my last chapter made me smile so widely that I very nearly split my face in two. _


	10. Why

_Disclaimer: As always, I do not own anything. And I think it would be far too much stress to own anything. Scary, I tell you. I think there's a bit of OOC-ness in here, just to warn you all._

* * *

**10. Why**

There have always been many things that I have wondered about my no-longer-quite-so-little brother. Things like what goes on in his head, and why he is always so cold, and why he refuses to actually acknowledge that Naruto is his best friend even though everyone already knows how he feels, and why he has just about the worst sense of fashion on the planet, barring that of Rock Lee. I wonder these things. All the time.

But due to the nature of these things, I don't ask my brother about them. Well, actually, I asked him about his fashion sense once. He didn't ever give me an answer.

Anyhow.

I was contemplating the many strange aspects of my brother's life one day, and I came to the sudden realization that there was something I could find out. Because it didn't require me to ask my brother, it required me to ask… other people.

Once the idea sprang into my mind, I couldn't get it out of my head, and within an hour, I had planned out my strategy perfectly. Now please, don't misinterpret this. It's not like I spend all my time plotting against my sibling. It just so happened that on this day, I was kind of ridiculously bored out of my mind. And this presented me with such a perfect opportunity to both get the answer to one of the many wonderings going on in my head, and annoy my younger brother half to death.

Because, you see, among the many things that were being wondered in my head was why in all the world my brother had so many rabid, obsessed, screaming fan girls. And since I could, I decided to go straight to the source: The girls themselves. I would question a variety of them, and once I had gathered enough satisfactory response, I would return to my brother and share with him what I had learned.

So I gathered a few necessary materials, namely a couple of pens and a notepad, and set off to accomplish my dastardly and brilliant plot.

It wasn't hard for me find the girls. There were very few who weren't in one fan club or another that was dedicated to Sasuke, so I had a lot of material to work with.

I worked as quickly as I could, asking the girls only one question, that being "Why do you like Sasuke Uchiha so much?"

Some of the responses I got were very, uh, interesting. Others were just disturbing.

Three hours and far too many terrifying experiences later, I returned to the house, more frazzled than I had been in a long time. I should have brought body armor. The only delight I was able to muster was that Sasuke would be even more frazzled when he heard some of the responses I had written down.

Luckily for me, Sasuke wasn't home when I returned, so I was able to clean myself up a bit. I tell you, those fan girls are _demons_. I had been viciously attacked by quite a few of them, and been proposed to three times as well.

By the time Sasuke came home, tired and looking slightly irritated, as usual, I was looking as collected as I generally do, and was waiting for him, leaning against the table with my notepad behind my back.

Sasuke isn't exactly an idiot, so his entire attitude grew wary when he saw me there, and he asked, ever so cautiously, "What is it?"

I stared coolly at him and allowed myself the faintest smile.

"Well, my dear younger brother," I said in a slightly condescending tone, because I know that he hates that, "I was feeling a need to branch away from my normal routine-"

"Meaning you were bored."

"-and I decided that, in consideration to you, I would discover what people thought of you."

His expression went from wary to downright hostile. "What do you mean?" he asked me sharply.

"Over time," I continued, ignoring him, "I have observed that you are the center of a great deal of attention when it comes to the opposite gender."

He paled. He knew where this was going.

"And, in the interest of your well-being-" ergo, to scare you half to death and/or annoy you our of your mind "-I took it upon myself to divest from these sweet souls-" cough, cough, demons from the deepest realms of darkness "-the reason for their attachment to you."

With a flourish, I brought the notepad out from behind my back.

"In response to the question, 'Why do you like Sasuke Uchiha so much?' I have received a variety of answers, some of which I will now share with you."

Sasuke was so pale he very nearly looked dead. Heh. I was going to enjoy this.

I cleared my throat, saying, "Response one: Ino Yamanaka."

I think Sasuke actually groaned.

"'Oh, my gosh, he's just so hot!' Response two: Sakura Haruno. 'I don't know. There's just something about him that's…really attractive, you know?'" No indeed I didn't know, but my dear brother's expression was priceless. I began skipping around the responses, flipping pages and reading only a few that caught my eye.

"Response five: 'Oh, that hair is so cute!'

"Response six: 'Like, the way he never actually talks, he's just all like, "hn."'

"Response nine: 'He's so dark and brooding!'

"Response twelve: Hinata Hyuga." I had only included names for the people I actually know, since the rabid fan girls really did scare me. "'Um, I-I don't, um, actually kn-know, I just, um, I-I, well…I don't know.'"

"Response eighteen: 'My gosh! He's so pretty!'"

Sasuke looked like he was about to vomit.

"Response twenty: 'Dreamy eyes!'

"Response twenty-five: 'Sasuke? OH MYGOSH! AHHH! SASUKE!'" That one I had made sure to write in all capital letters, because the girl had _clearly _said it that way.

"Response thirty: 'What? Why are you asking me about Sasuke? Do you think I don't love him? Is that what you think? I love Sasuke! I _love_ him, do you hear me? And one day I'm going to marry him, and he is going to be mine! Mine! My Sasuke! No one else can touch him! AHHH!'

"That one attacked me with her shoe," I said conversationally, doing my very best to hold in the hysterical laughter that threatened to burst forth when I saw Sasuke's face. He was having to brace himself against the wall now, his expression somewhere between mortified and homicidal.

"Response thirty-one: 'Okay, okay, let me tell you, okay? Like, he is SOOOOO gorgeous! Like, the hair, and the eyes, and the voice, and like, everything!'

"Response thirty-four: 'Those eyes of his… It's like they're staring into your soul…'"

"I wouldn't want to stare into it if I could," my brother said, head now held between his hands.

I cleared my throat and continued.

"Response thirty-seven: TenTen. 'Hee hee. He's kind of cute.'

"Response thirty-nine: 'He's so stoic! And heroic! And majestic!'

"Response forty-two: 'When I see him, my heart stops, and I know that I have finally found my place in the world.'"

Now Sasuke was looking green.

I looked down at my notepad and smiled. This next one was kind of random.

"Response forty-seven: 'Well, he has good facial structure… And good skin. Very good skin. His complexion is a bit pallid, but his dermatoglyphics are fantastic.'"

My brother looked at me in disbelief. "My dermatoglyphics?"

I shrugged. It wasn't as if I could understand the thoughts of these girls.

"Reponse forty-eight: 'Whenever he talks, I just get, like, this thrill.'

"Response fifty-three: 'Seriously, he is just so freaking hot. He is just…so hot. Like, just hot. Way hot.'

"Response sixty: 'Sasuke is the love of my life! And I am the love of his life! And one day, we will live together forever and we will be happy!'"

I snapped the notebook shut and glanced up.

Sasuke was looking quite disturbed. Mission accomplished.

I held out the notebook to him, saying, "If you would care to, you may read the rest."

For a moment, he just looked at the notepad in complete revulsion, then he took in gingerly, flipping it open with a kind of horrified fascination.

He eyes scanned the pages, looks of horror, disgust and bemusement flitting across his face. He stopped at one, reading it three times before he said in clear disbelief, "'He's, like, so, like, well, like, you know, like, totally, like, and so, like, you know?'" He looked up at me, almost pleadingly. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

I shrugged.

For a while, he read in silence (I had collected rather a lot of responses), then he paled considerably, freezing as he stared with wide eyes at the paper in his hands.

"What?" I asked, minorly concerned.

He continued staring, and, worried, I crossed to stand beside him, looking with him at the paper. Once I saw the response, I realized exactly why he was looking like he was.

"Oh, right," I said. "I didn't think I had written that one down."

"She actually said that?" Sasuke asked in a strangled voice.

"Er, yeah."

"Out loud?"

"Er, yeah."

A shiver passed through Sasuke's body, and he passed me the notepad, saying weakly, "I don't think I want to read any more right now."

Yeah, I could understand that. That particular response had nearly put me off my questioning.

"Well," I said consolingly, "Now you know at least a little bit about what they think of you."

Sasuke looked at me sharply, saying, "We both know that I never wanted to know what they thought of me. That was just you."

I raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, dear little brother, there really are some aspects of your life that just make me wonder _why_."

Once more looking wary, Sasuke asked, "And what subject are you going to pursue responses for next?"

Though it doesn't happen terribly often, I full-out grinned at him, saying cheerfully, "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Then I patted him on the head, since I know he hates that, pressed the notepad into his hands, and walked away, evil thoughts already spinning through my head.

* * *

_Heh. So, yeah. I Actually kind of like this part, because it's minorly random, and I enjoyed writing the responses. And dermatoglyphics are the patterns of your skin, including the lines on your hands and everything. And this part was written because, once upon a time, I was looking at a picture of Sasuke and I thought, "Huh. He has a nice facial structure." And I happen not to like his sense of fashion, by the way._

_Reviews are pretty much my sole reason for existing (well, not really, but I like them a LOT), so please review and keep me alive! Tell me what you thought, or what you didn't think, or if you have any questions, suggestions, etc. Just go crazy._

_Many thanks!_

_~Snake_


	11. Anger and Pain

_Okay, so I am sorry I took so long to get this next part up. I was having focus issues, then it turned out way longer than it was supposed to, and so I had to cut it down in size some, and I'm not sure how well I like it. Anyhow. So, way back when, I had this part that was talking about Sasuke's emotions, and we had a brother moment, and we were introduced to Team Taka, and there were all these mentions of Sasuke leaving for Orochimaru, and I said that I would minorly explain that if anyone cared. Well, I'm not sure if anyone but me cares, but because I care, I am now explaining. So there. Therefore, this is a continuation of part…I want to say five. I think five. So read it or leave it, and make sure to review! And I really hope this makes sense, because it didn't work quite how I saw it originally..._

* * *

**11. Anger and Pain**

While there are a lot of memories I have of the time before our parents were killed, memories that are happy and sad, funny and heartbreaking, there is one memory that persists in being clearer than most others.

What I remember is sitting at home on the couch, listening to Father extolling my many virtues, and Sasuke, who couldn't have been more than seven, running into the house waving a paper excitedly, exclaiming, "I got a perfect score! The best in my class!"

Father didn't even look at him. He just kept on telling me how proud he was of me.

Sasuke had remained with his hand in the air, paper clenched in pale fingers, for only a few seconds. Then he had lowered his hand and looked almost in confusion at the paper he held.

Our mother came over, looked at Sasuke's paper and congratulated him, but while both Sasuke and I knew that she meant her praise, we also knew that she wasn't really proud of him. It was just what one said in this type of situation.

He should have acted crushed, because I _know_ that he was. Instead, his face went hard, very hard, and he gave a short bow to Mother before placing his paper on the table and leaving through the front door.

I was worried, obviously, but I endured my father's praise for another five minutes before I could exit the house in search of my poor younger sibling.

I searched the immediate area first, even though I really didn't expect to find him there. He was upset, and when that happened, he didn't ever stay close. He went as far away as he could, so that no one could find him. Fortunately, I'd spent enough time running after him that I know nearly all of his hiding places.

After checking all of his usual hiding places, including Naruto's house, just in case, I finally allowed myself to acknowledge that he had gone to the forest. That was never a good thing, because it was only when he was really, _really _upset that he went to the forest.

When I found him, he was throwing kunai and shruiken at the trees surrounding him, his face twisted in anger as he threw, again and again, then retrieved his weapons and started all over.

For a while, I just stood there, leaning against a tree with my arms folded, watching. I knew that he knew that I was there, but I also knew that I had to let him get out at least a little bit of his anger before I tried to talk to him.

Once he was standing still, worn out, I chanced walking up behind him, stopping when I was only a few feet away from him. "You okay?"

I didn't really expect him to answer, so I was surprised when he responded, his voice uncharacteristically vicious.

"I hate them."

"What?"

He turned around, his face hard. "I hate them. Mother and Father. They don't care about me and I hate them."

I opened my mouth to tell him that they did care, but then I shut my mouth, because that wasn't what he wanted to hear. Not from me. And besides, it seemed like he actually meant it.

We had stayed there for another hour or so, before he fell asleep and I carried him home.

It took me until ten years later to realize exactly what he was hiding with that anger of his.

Since he came back from Orochimaru, Sasuke had actually been doing quite well. That first night, he had essentially had a breakdown, but that was never mentioned again, and other than that, everything seemed to be going well. The villagers had accepted him fairly well, and he was getting along with his former teammates and friends. I wasn't home often enough to observe his every action, but from what I did see, I assumed that everything was fine.

It was made somewhat painfully obvious that my assumptions were a little off when I came home one day to find Karin and Jugo huddled on the couch, their arms around themselves, looking like they were about to cry, and Suigetsu lying facedown on the floor, his arms wrapped around his head, swearing under his breath.

All three of them looked up when I opened the door, and from their faces, I didn't even need to ask what had happened. They only looked so lost when Sasuke was angry.

I sighed deeply, not wanting to have to deal with this today.

"What happened?" I asked, palming my face.

Karin let out a sniff. "Sasuke-kun is angry."

"I gathered that," I said, somewhat dryly. "But what's going on?"

"His girlfriend said something," Suigetsu snarled from the floor. "I don't know what, but it majorly pissed him off. He pretty much went ballistic, and when we tried to go and talk to him, he nearly killed us all."

"He didn't actually nearly kill us all," Jugo said quietly. "He just…almost nearly killed us all." At his words, Karin let out a kind of mewl and curled even further into herself.

That was how they always reacted when Sasuke was angry. Because when Sasuke was angry, he would lock himself away, and lash out at anyone who tried to help him, so Suigetsu would mirror his anger, Jugo would go quiet and sad, and Karin would start crying.

And me? I would pick up the pieces and try to make sure that everything was resolved before the next day.

Oh, joy.

I let out a sigh. "I'll go talk to him," I told the three ninja, adding a muttered, "After I find him." In response, Jugo looked at me gratefully, Karin nodded her tear-streaked face, and Suigetsu just continued breathing heavily from the ground.

Kissing my nice, relaxing shower goodbye, I scaled the stairs to Sasuke's room and knocked on the door.

Unsurprisingly, there was so answer, so I tried the handle.

I knew that Sasuke wasn't in the room even before I stepped inside, so I just made my way across the pristine room and walked through the door that led to the balcony. I looked out for a few moments, but I couldn't sense his chakra signature anywhere nearby, so I left his room, shutting the door behind me.

I went back downstairs, and when the three members of his team looked up, their faces hopeful (Jugo), pleading (Karin), and unwillingly concerned (Suigetsu), all I said was, "He left. I'll go find him and see if I can find out what's wrong while I'm at it."

Karin and Jugo nodded, while Suigetu's face turned murderous again, and he once more wrapped his head in his arms, swearing under his breath.

As I exited the house, my mind flew back to the memory of that day ten years ago, and this time, I didn't even bother going anywhere other than the forest.

I could hear him before I could see him, and I was fairly certain that the heavy thunks that were assailing my ears were indicative of him beating the life out of a tree or two.

Just like that day long ago, once I came in sight of him, I stopped, leaned against a tree, and watched him.

This time he wasn't using shuriken and kunai to abuse the trees, but his own hands. Every so often I winced as I watched him ram his fists into the tree trunks, occasionally leaving bloody stains on the bark. He was breathing in ragged, panting gasps that I could hear even from where I stood, and his arms were shaking.

He was using nothing but physical force, and it was at least an hour before he stopped, his body wracked by his breaths, and the sky dark with the coming night.

His back was to me, and I could see the way that his bleeding hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

"Feeling better?" I asked lightly

Sasuke turned his head to the side, just slightly, so that he could catch the barest glimpse of me over his shoulder. "Not really."

"Didn't think so," I said, straightening from my position against the tree and walking forward until I was standing at his side. His eyes were on the ground now, and I focused my own gaze on the drops of blood that were slowly falling from his fist.

"Feel like talking?" I asked.

"No."

"Pity. I promised your team I'd find out what was wrong."

He lifted his head and I shifted my eyes to meet his gaze as he deadpanned, "It's always about what's wrong, you know that? It's just no one cares once they find out."

I thought that was a curious thing to say, and my expression must have conveyed that impression, because Sasuke turned away, his face hardening. I could almost feel him locking himself deeper and deeper inside of himself.

I let out a sigh, then opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Sasuke said, in a very matter-of-fact voice, "I hate them, you know."

I blinked twice, thrown by the statement, and said, "Ah, who?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Everyone."

"I see," I said tactfully. "Care to expound?"

He shrugged again, saying, "I've just hated everyone since I came back from-" He cut himself short, then shook his head angrily and continued, "Since I came back from _him._"

At that, I could do nothing but let out a deep sigh. Since returning from Orochimaru, Sasuke hadn't said much about the subject. In fact, he'd said nearly nothing, including the snake-man's name. All that we who cared about Sasuke had found out was from the Hokage, and even though he had promised to explain everything to us, all he had said was that Sasuke had left on his orders, on a mission. He refused to diverge any more than that, at Sasuke's request. And none of us were brave enough to confront Sasuke, so, naturally, we felt like we had to tread carefully. The Hokage requested that if Sasuke was unwilling to share, we all just needed to welcome him back and act like nothing had happened. Well, we could welcome him back just fine, but how in all the world were we supposed to pretend that none of that had happened?

Added to all that was the fact that, sooner or later, every problem Sasuke had seemed to come back to Orochimaru. And sooner or later that would have to be confronted. Unfortunately for me, I had the impression that _now_ was going to be the time that it was confronted.

I let out a deep enough sigh that Sasuke's eyes flicked back to me for just a moment, then I asked, "Why exactly do you hate them, and what does returning from him have to do with anything?"

His voice was deceptively careless as he said, "I hate them because they hate me, and they've hated me ever since I came back."

Sasuke has an interesting view of things. So all I said was, "Hmm."

For a long while, we just stood in silence, and I almost groaned, knowing that I was going to have to initiate this confrontation.

So I only let out a breath through my nose and said, quite bluntly, "What did Hinata say to you?"

The tensing of Sasuke's entire body was instantaneous. His words seemed literally ripped from the back of his throat. "Who," he growled, "told you about that?"

I closed my eyes, willing my own body to remain relaxed. "Suigetsu," I said easily.

The growl Sasuke let out was practically animalistic.

Letting out another breath through my nose, I said, "I figured that it couldn't be that bad, because Hinata isn't exactly someone prone to scathing and hurtful comments." I lapsed back into silence for a moment before saying, "Do you care to tell me what she said?"

The fist flying towards my face wasn't a surprise, and I easily caught Sasuke's clenched hand.

"You have no right to pry into my personal affairs," Sasuke hissed through teeth clenched as tightly as his fist.

"On the contrary, little brother. I have every right."

With a strangled yell, Sasuke sent his foot flying towards me, and just like that, we were fighting as if our very lives depended on it, bypassing all gen or ninjitsus, relying on only our physical prowess to try to beat the other into submission.

For a few minutes, it was only block, strike, retreat, attack, then Sasuke began punctuating his attacks with words.

"If you think-" _punch_ "-that you have any right-" _kick_ "-to try and find out what I-" _block_ "-am going through-" _combo kick_ "-then you-" _head butt_ "-are sorely-" _punch, punch_ "-mistaken!"

Now I was slightly confused. All I had asked was what Hinata had said. I hadn't asked what he was going through, though now, of course, I was curious.

"I'm your brother," I responded, leaping far enough away that I could speak without interruption. "As I said, I have every right."

"No, you have no right!" Sasuke yelled, lunging at me once more, and then we were fighting again.

My own actions were methodical, instinctive, but Sasuke's were pushed by a burning rage that I swear I could actually _feel. _What could be making him so angry? Why was he like this? I was fairly certain that he had never tried to kill me before, and I was near positive that he was trying to now.

Before long, I had to leap back yet again, this time to catch my breath, because even I couldn't go on forever in this type of situation.

So we stared at each other from across the distance, both of us breathing hard, until Sasuke took a breath and said, "You're just like everyone else. You don't care. No one has ever cared. Not you, not my so-called friends, not-" his breath caught. "Not Mother and Father."

And suddenly, it was painfully clear what was the matter.

"What did Hinata say?" I asked again, this time urgently. I had to know what had set him off and made him think of our parents.

Once again, Sasuke attacked me with a viciousness I am sure that he couldn't have learned here.

Now I was having to think, because Sasuke was moving far faster than he used to be able to, seeming as if he were everywhere, and I was nearly undone trying to defend myself.

But if Sasuke had one weakness, it was that when he was angry, there was only so much focus he could spare for anything other than his anger, and after a kick to the chest sent him stumbling, I lunged at him and pinned him by the throat to a tree trunk, my grip on his neck nearly a stranglehold.

I was out of breath and panting, trying to figure out where to go from here, but the choice was taken away from me when I looked at my brother's face and saw a reflective sheen covering his cheeks.

Astonished beyond belief, I stared at him and asked, "Sasuke, are you _crying_?"

All he did was stare straight at me and clench his jaw, while the tears kept on running down his cheeks. That wasn't anger in his eyes. That was pain. And now I was certain that that had always been pain.

Whatever Hinata had said was no longer important.

"Sasuke," I said gently, releasing his throat, "What happened that night?"

Both of us knew what I was talking about, and Sasuke's eyes became unfocused as he answered me.

"Mother and Father were talking in their room. I was reading. We heard screams, and Mother and Father came and found me. They told me to stay where I was, and that they were going to go see what was wrong. Before they could…" Sasuke shuddered, clearly unconsciously. "_He _came through the door. He said we had a beautiful house." Sasuke shuddered again, and I nearly joined him at seeing the naked horror in his eyes. "When he saw me, he asked them if he could have me… They said no. He grabbed Mother by her hair… And then Father… He killed them Right then in front of me." Sasuke was shaking now, and I grabbed his shoulders, if only to make sure he stayed upright. Despite the way his body was shaking, Sasuke's voice was completely monotone as he said, "_He_ walked over to me and grabbed me by the chin, saying that he knew I would come to him, because he knew I would want revenge. And even if he was the one who had killed my parents, he was the only one who could teach me to be as powerful as I needed to be. Then he just left me there, sitting with the bodies of my parents."

Tears were still streaking down his cheeks, and the effort of keeping his face impassive was clearly telling on him. I swallowed once, aware that tears were sliding down my own cheeks, and asked quietly, "Tell me what happened."

"The Hokage approached me. He said he knew where _he_ was. He knew vaguely what _he_ had said to me that night, and he asked me…begged me, in the interest of Konoha to go to _him _and to bring him down from the inside."

I didn't know what to do. I had no idea how to comfort my own brother. So all I could do was keep a firm grip on his shaking shoulders and repeat, "Tell me what happened."

"I agreed. What else was I supposed to do? I wanted _him _dead. And I knew that in the interest of Konoha, like the Hokage had said, he needed to be brought down. But you have no idea how it felt. It felt like I was _giving in_." I could have sworn that Sasuke _whimpered. _"_He_ had said that I would come to him, searching for power… And I did. Not of my own violation, but I came.

"_He _was ecstatic when I came into his village. He preened over me, acting as if I was his personal pet. He would demand that I follow him around like a dog, that I answer to his every beck and call. I wanted to rip him to shreds, but I wasn't strong enough. So I had to wait, and I had to endure…"

My voice was soft as I said, "Go on."

"I didn't know how to deal with it. I knew I had to stay there, because I had promised, and I would never get another chance like this, but it was hard, so hard. The only way I was able to cope was by forming my own team within the confines of _his_ influence."

"Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo," I muttered.

"I provided more kindness than _he _did, and we all needed something. The formation of our own team gave us what we seemed to need"

Suddenly, one of his hands, which had been limp at his sides, shot up and wrapped around my arm. "I have never been so happy as when I killed him. I was so relieved, because I felt like it was all over, and then I came back here with my team…"

This was the part he didn't want to say. This was the part that was affecting him now, more than anything.

It took a while, but eventually his voice came again, softer than before. "I came back, and everyone looked at me like they couldn't believe I had dared to walk back into Konoha. The Hokage said he would explain everything, but I couldn't bear for everyone to know. To know what I had done… The Hokage was worried, apologizing over and over for sending _me_ to him, but I just couldn't… I can't let anyone know. So I've had to keep quiet about it all, and as a result, no one knows what happens, and they all think that I joined _him_ only because I really did want more power." His voice was harsh now. "They look at me in disgust, in horror, thinking that what type of person would willing go to the man who had killed his parents. They don't understand! And I can't tell them, so they'll hate me and distrust me no matter what I do! All of them! Because they'll never know why I did what I did, and I can never tell them!"

"What did Hinata say?" I asked, taking a deep breath, trying to halt the flow of tears that were sliding down my face.

"We were talking about the village, and she said that I was doing remarkably well in relation to the villagers, despite the fact that they have a hard time connecting with me."

"She didn't mean-" I began, but Sasuke cut me off, yelling, "I know she didn't mean anything by it! But not even she will ever fully understand, and there will always be a part of her that wonders _why_ and I can't tell her!"

I could understand why he hadn't wanted to tell anyone. That had been…beyond hard for him. Hopefully he wouldn't regret all of this spilling over later on.

I took a deep breath. Then another one. Then a few more. When I finally felt like I was able to speak normally, I said, "Your perception of the world is skewed, Sasuke."

I felt more than heard the growl that began in his chest, and I quickly said, "No, Sasuke, hear me out." Fortunately for me, my dear younger sibling was too exhausted to retain his anger for long, and he went limp in my hold again, allowing me to continue.

"I won't deny that most of the people in the village have a few reservations regarding you and your defection to-" I took another deep breath "-_Orochimaru_." Sasuke stiffened, but I forged ahead. "I won't deny that, but I think that there are more people that care than you are letting yourself realize."

Sasuke didn't say anything, and I found myself half coaxing, half teasing him. "Come on, Sasuke. Give everyone a chance. Don't let your own stupidity spell your destiny of loneliness."

I unconscious held my breath, hoping that he would sense my attempt, however futile it may be, to get him to relax.

For a few seconds, Sasuke remained absolutely still, which, for him, could have meant anything.

Then he let out a long sigh and slumped even further than he had.

"Fine."

Thankfully Sasuke was still having a staring contest with the ground, so he didn't see the look of sheer relief that crossed my face for the briefest moments before I got my features under control.

I pulled Sasuke upright, since he was still hunched over, and pried his hands away from my shirt. I pushed him back just slightly, and took a moment to look at him. His face was once again a typical Uchiha mask, but the streaks that the tears had left on his face were a little obvious.

"We might want to find a river before we head home," I said gently, and Sasuke just nodded once, then turned and led the way through the forest.

Once the traces of tears were erased from Sasuke's face, the two of us headed home. It wasn't the most comfortable walk imaginable, but a weight I hadn't realized was there had lifted, and things were just a little bit clearer now.

When we got home, I just told Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo that everything was fine now, Sasuke had just had a bad day, and then we all went into our respective rooms for the night.

Eventually, Sasuke will have to tell everyone else at least part of what happened to him, I know that. But I'm content to wait a while longer, to let him get used to the idea of someone knowing, before he tells anyone else.

It's strange to think that I always thought it was anger. Always. Now that I know that sometimes it isn't anger at all, but pain. Sometimes, I think that realization hurts me more than it hurts him, but the understanding that comes with that realization is a relief I didn't know I wanted.

It's strange, all the things that you think you know about a person that turn out to be wrong.

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_Okay, so the original version was longer and sadder, and...yeah. If anyone has any interest at all in reading the full version, do let me know. Anyhow, if you made it this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this, and again, I ask that you leave a review if you can. Much thanks to all!_

~Snake

-_Just in case you all were wondering, the extended version of this chapter is now up, and you can find it on my profile under the title "Being an Uchiha." It's kind of a long sucker… But. If you want to and you haven't already, you can go check it out!_

_Yet again, much thanks!_


	12. Questions

**Disclaimer: Despite being unhealthily obsessed with it, I do not own Naruto, only the plot of this story.**

**Heh. I am trying to get my mom acquainted with my favorite Naruto characters. She can recognize Sasuke, Naruto and Itachi, and can vaguely remember that Deidara's name starts with a 'D.' Beyond that… she still needs some work.**

**As always, I offer my sincere thanks to my reviewers, and a special cry goes out to my new reviewer DeadlyNight15, who has reviewed every single one of my chapters. Wow. So much thanks. Also, to my still mysterious reviewer Iggy, I'm afraid this part doesn't have Taka in it, but if you're looking for Taka love, I would recommend the fic "Alpha Female" by 8sword. It's one of my all-time favorites, and is the reason why I love both Sasu/Hina and Team Taka.**

**This was just one of the random ideas that I collected when I first began this, and was the one that seemed to be flowing at the time, so I wrote it. I'm not sure how connected this one is, but oh, well… And hopefully it all makes sense, because I wrote it a tad differently than the others.**

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**12. Questions**

I quite honestly feel that the world would be a far worse place without questions. In my mind, questions often equal learning, and very, very few things are more important than learning.

Sometimes, though… questions can be taken a bit far.

"Why does the word 'demonstrate' start with 'demon?'"

"I have no idea."

Being myself, I never really did ask questions about things, since I was talented enough to work things out for myself in nearly all cases, be it from practice or observation. But even I had moments where I had to ask questions of my elders and peers. As a result, I always managed to stay on top of everyone else.

"Who do you think invented eye patches?"

"Probably someone missing an eye."

The questions I have asked throughout my life are carefully thought out, painstakingly worded, and asked to the appropriate people. I would never dream of wasting words on something unimportant, much less a _question _on such things.

Due to my careful consideration of all things regarding my questions, I always received the answers I wanted, and my knowledge was furthered, allowing me to grow in skill and strength.

"Why do we call it a shoe?"

"Seriously, I don't know."

Despite the fact that I almost revere questions, I do not necessarily approve of being asked questions. That requires me to talk. That requires wasted words. Because very seldom do people ask me questions that are worth anything. And they always expect me to answer.

It isn't that I don't have time to answer. It isn't that I am violently opposed to answering. It's just that there's no _point_ to half of the questions I am asked, therefore, there would be no point in answering. It is quite as simple as that.

"Which do you think came first, the color orange or the fruit orange?"

"I really couldn't know."

Unfortunately for me, people seem not to realize my philosophy regarding questions. Thus, as the human race, on a general level, is idiotic, people keep on asking me pointless questions and expecting equally pointless responses.

"If you were a bird, what type would you be?"

"I have never given any thought to the subject."

Is it really so hard to understand that I don't like wasting words? If the question does not need to be answered, then I will not answer it. It is logical to me; I have yet to figure out if it isn't logical to everyone else, or if everyone merely _has _no logic.

I tend to lean more towards the latter.

"Where do all the lost socks go?"

"I don't wear socks.

Because of the sheer and utter stupidity of people, there are time when I am nearly reduced to feeling that questions are nothing more than annoyances. Extreme annoyances. The idiocy of the race that I unfortunately belong to is staggering.

"If you were me… who I would I be?"

"I really don't want to know."

And yet, despite the valiant efforts of my fellow homo sapiens, I still regard questions as tools of sacred learning.

"Why are thumbs on the insides of your hands, not the outsides?"

"When I find someone who knows, I'll ask them."

For the most part.

"Do you think birds ever have a fear of heights?"

"I'm positive that I don't look like I care."

But sometimes, there is only so much you can take, you know?

"Have you ever noticed that the word 'laughter' is one letter away from 'slaughter?'"

"No, I never did notice that."

And there comes a time when enough is enough.

"Do you-"

NO. MORE.

I spin around and slap a hand over my little brother's open mouth, mashing his intended words into a garbled "Mmmph!" as his eyes go wide for just a second.

I close my eyes, willing myself to regain every ounce of my composure before I say calmly, "Sasuke, if you ask me one more question, I am going to do something violent."

The incessant question-asking of my younger brother had started off innocently enough.

One week ago, Sasuke had come to me, face serious, and said that he had a question. Seeing as Sasuke's philosophy regarding questions is, for the most part, much the same as mine, I had told him to continue. After all, he wouldn't waste something like a question on something unimportant, would he?

I was nothing short of stunned when he asked, that serious expression still on his face, what the difference between the words "blessed" and "blesséd" was.

Embarrassingly enough, I could only stare at him. At least it was a blank stare, and not a horrified stare. He ended up shaking his head and walking away, muttering something about how not even perfect older brothers knew _everything._

I had shaken it off, seeing it as a fluke, a once-in-a-lifetime lack of sense and taste in that particular area on the part of my brother.

But, oh, lucky me, that was just the beginning.

The week has been torture. Pure, unadulterated TORTURE. Day after day, hour after hour, I have been assaulted with questions of the worst kind.

And today? Question after question after _question_. There was no relief from the sheer agony of pointlessness coming from none other than my own brother. It is driving me insane, to the point that I want to curl up in a ball with my arms over my head and scream "Leave me alone!" But seeing as that would be as accepted as me yelling that it was the voices again, that isn't really a choice. So I have endured with as much dignity as I could.

But now, standing in the street in the middle of Konoha, with a few people throwing curious glances at us, I have had enough.

Sasuke, the lower half of his face covered by my hand, stares at me curiously, with the faintest gleam of something dangerous in his eyes, as I repeat, "Something _violent, _Sasuke."

Disturbingly enough, I feel his lips curls up in the smallest smile underneath my hand, and his eyes glint with something suspiciously like triumph before his face turns innocent and he pulls my hand away from his mouth, saying, "Is something the matter, Itachi?" Another ridiculous question.

I begin making a mental list of all the words I won't say to my_ oh so sweet _little brother. Most of them are four letters long and of the expletive persuasion.

"Sasuke," I say, my voice carefully toneless, "You are beginning to irritate me."

"But why?"

I slap my hand back over his mouth, with a bit more force than I had planned. "No, more questions, Sasuke."

He sounds way too innocent as he repeats, "But why?"

Violence is not the answer.

I take a deep breath. "Sasuke, just stop."

"But _why?"_

Violence is seldom the answer.

Calling upon every ounce of my Uchiha composure, I take a step back from him, careful to keep all of my extreme irritation from my face as I say, very firmly, "No more questions, Sasuke." I refrain from adding, 'Or I swear I'm going to hit you.'

Sasuke takes a step back too, so that we are facing each other on the street, ignoring the people around us.

He looks so serious, my little brother, and that worries me. I am even more worried when one corner of his mouth lifts in the tiniest little smirk.

"Itachi…"

My instincts scream at me to run. My Uchiha pride demands I stay. Instincts versus pride… Really, what could Sasuke do to me?

Never had my brother sounded more serious.

"Itachi… If a tree falls in the forest and no one's there, does it make a sound?"

Reevaluation of opinion: Violence is the answer.

Those few people watching us are treated to a loud smack and the view of the younger of two Uchihas flying through the air.

Of course, Sasuke lands in a crouch, not even unsteady, and the smirk that is spread across his face is nothing short of chilling. I quite suddenly remember that we are not in the Uchiha complex, but in the middle of Konoha. Which means that we are not alone. Which means that there are…witnesses.

I think I am going pale.

I do not lose control like that. I don't. Period.

Sasuke straightens, brushing hair away from his face, looking smug as a cat, and says, "Naruto owes me so much."

And the world spins to a halt.

Shoot.

"You made a bet?"

A smirk, a nod.

"With Naruto?"

Another smirk, another nod.

"And the bet was?"

Sasuke shrugs languidly before saying, "Oh, he bet me that I couldn't get you to hit me in a public place. I told him if he gave me a week, I could make you lose it in the middle of a street."

If I weren't an Uchiha, my face would be flaming red right now.

I should have known that Sasuke had ulterior motives. No way would he voluntarily speak so much without a reason for it.

"I am slightly regretful," Sasuke is saying, "that I had to use questions to get you to lose that perfect composure of yours, big brother, but it was such an _obvious _weakness. There was no way I could let it go unexploited."

He has a point.

I take a deep breath before panning a full-blown Uchiha glare at the stunned persons who have paused in their actions to watch us. With worried noises, varying from squeaks to gulps, the people turn away, making a show of minding their own business. The ones close enough are still listening, I can tell, but that's the best I can do right now.

I turn my attention back to my still smirking brother, whose hands are in his pockets, his posture relaxed.

He is going to die, I decide. Painfully.

"Sasuke," I say, trying to keep my voice a careful monotone and not a dangerous hiss, "You do realize that the knowledge that you were betting with Naruto at my expense doesn't make me happy."

The smirk grows in nastiness. "Of course I realize that. That's why Naruto and I have already made plans to avoid you for the next five days at least. I've already moved some of my stuff to Naruto's house, since that's where I'll be staying until I can go home without being killed."

Well, no one ever said that my little brother was a total idiot.

I make a lunge that is no so discreet as I would have liked at my sibling, but being a few steps away from me as he is, he jumps back before I can lay a hand on him, a low chuckle escaping him as I attempt to snarl while keeping my voice toneless.

"I will _kill_ you, Sasuke!"

The last words I hear from him before he disappears off to tell Naruto that he has won are, "But _why,_ Itachi?"

Reevaluation of opinion: Questions are of the devil.

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**I do apologize for any errors, but I don't want to go back and edit right now. Also, if the tense changes from present to past, do forgive me. I'm trying to get better at writing in present tense, but I sometimes have issues with that…**

**Also, if anyone who has not already read it is interested, the extended version of Chapter 11 is now up, under the title "Being An Uchiha ."**

**I would love it if you would drop me a review, telling me what you think, or telling me what you didn't think, or commenting on the weather… I quite like the weather. ;) **

**Anyhow.**

**Much thanks to you all!**

**~Snake**


	13. Friendship

_**Author's Notes: Okay. So it's been ages and ages and ages, but I have excuses! If you don't care… Don't read my Author's Notes. Poot. Anyhow. So, I started school again, and am minorly stressed, so I wasn't able to write, and I am taking English, so I keep on analyzing my writing, then tearing it all apart. Dude, I suck. Seriously. I can't write. Blech. But whatever. And also, I have been uberly nastily stressed because of various friend situations… I hate awkwardness. Grr.**_

_**But now I have a new part. And I don't actually get to the point for a while, and it's kind of long and rambling, but I'm not going to bother cutting it down. By the way, I love angst. It makes me happy and pained and all that wonderful stuff. I am such a crybaby, seriously. Also, I seriously contradict myself all the time. And no one I ever write about has a happy life. Maybe that's why I like Sasuke so much… And Naruto… And Gaara… And pretty much freaking everybody in Naruto. Heck, they all have issues. Okay, I'm seriously rambling. Sorry. No one has to read this part, you know. I'm just really tired right now, and I'm not even entirely aware of what I'm saying, and I really like water. And cheesecake. By the way, I know that there are some Sasuke haters out there. And Sakura haters. And Karin haters. And Itachi haters. And other haters too. I should probably say right now that I am not prone to hating people… (except on my bad days) So I generally try not to portray anyone in an uberly negative light. Except Orochimaru. But that's only because he makes my neck hurt.**_

_**By the way…**_**if ylfrettub **_**is reading this, then there is a part with Itachi and Sakura that I wrote with you in mind. Just to let you know. It had been floating around in my head ever since that one conversation we had, so I thought I would write it here. xD It's the closest to an Itachi pairing that I am going to come to within this story.**_

_**Dude, is anyone even reading this anymore? I'll bet not. Shoot. I'm going to stop now, seriously. Oh, after one more thing that is actually related to this part. I was going to write something else entirely for this part, but then situations with my friends came up, and so what came out was friendship related. Also, I don't like doing two present tense parts in a row, but although the last part was present tense, the way this one worked was in present tense. So. I wrote it that way. Seriously, though, I'm done now. I am so sorry. I am so out of it right now.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Uh… I don't own the characters or world or anything… Just to let everyone know.**_

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**13. Friendship**

I am leaning forward, my elbows resting on my legs, which are parted, just slightly. One of my feet is tapping a steady, quick beat on the floor. It is a nervous movement, one I would not allow in a normal situation.

This is not a normal situation.

One of my lips is caught between my teeth, and my hands are clasped together and resting on my forehead, holding it up. My eyes are closed, because I cannot stand to see the expressions of the other people in the room, though I know exactly what they are doing.

Naruto is pacing, which is expected. He cannot stay still, especially not in a situation like this. I know that he is running his hands through his blond spikes every few minutes, and he is keeping up a constant stream of profanities, muttered in a voice that is bordering on broken. His steps are not entirely even, and he's stumbled at least once. He should be sleeping.

Kakashi is nearly still, like I am, but for his turning of the pages of his book. As if anyone thinks he is actually reading. I wonder if his hands are shaking, but I will not open my eyes to see.

I find myself suddenly glad that Jugo and Suigetsu weren't allowed into the hospital. They wouldn't have been able to restrain themselves as much as we three. Suigetsu would have been swinging his sword like a madman, Jugo morphing into countless forms, unable to control himself. Their panic would have stripped away our remaining shreds self control, and the lot of us would have been acting possessed.

I force my foot to stop its motion, but for once, I cannot remain immobile, and it starts up again, without my conscious consent. I find myself glad that my current company is too involved in their own thoughts to pay attention to my lack of control.

I can hear Naruto's footsteps becoming faster, almost as if he is running, and I know that if he doesn't stop soon, he will fall, because he is so very tired.

All three of us, I know, are wishing that we could switch places with Sakura and Karin. But we are not even allowed through the closed door across the room that all of us want to break down. We all want to storm through the halls until we find the room wherein lays the one we care about, but we, three powerful and feared shinobi, and forced to remain confined like so many small children.

My foot is bouncing now, only my heel touching the ground. I am becoming more and more nervous, though I am loath to admit it. It has been too long. Long enough that I almost don't want Sakura and Karin to come out of that room, because I am certain that their faces will be masks of despair, heartbreak in their eyes because they couldn't save someone who was important to them…

Typically, it is just then that the door opens, and my eyes snap open.

When I see that it is Sakura and Karin, I rise to my feet, barely stopping myself from leaping upright. Kakashi rises as well, while Naruto spins and fixes his bloodshot gaze on them. I know that Sakura is just as tired as Naruto, but I can't bring myself to care right now. I can't even bring myself to care that my face is no doubt just as openly begging as Naruto's.

Sakura and Karin don't look defeated, only bone weary, so I allow a quiet breath to escape my lips as Naruto asks, "Is he…?"

He can't bear to finish, and I don't blame him. I would have asked, but I can't bring myself to speak just yet.

"He's stabilized," Sakura says quietly, "But we nearly lost him countless times. Tsunade's still in there with him, just in case there's a relapse. We had to resuscitate him twice."

"Is he going to live?" Naruto asks, his voice whisper-quiet.

If the answer is no, then no one else will live either.

"As far as we know," Karin says, "though it's hard to be certain right know."

I don't think anyone realized that we were holding our breaths until we let them out. They can't be certain, but they think so. For now, I can take that, and I regain the majority of my composure.

Naruto, in a surprisingly thoughtful gesture, makes a seal with his hands, creating a bunshin to go tell Jugo and Suigetsu that they don't have to worry quite so much. That can't have been very good for him though, since he's about to pass out, even without using up more chakra.

Kakashi is the one who asks, "Can we see him?" and Karin and Sakura share a look.

"I don't think Tsunade wants anyone in there," Sakura says eventually.

And now it is my turn to speak.

I keep my voice emotionless and quiet, but make sure that everyone can hear the steel in my tone.

"I am sure that she wouldn't mind me in the room," I say in my usual monotone.

Both Sakura and Karin pale, and Naruto mutters something about stupid Uchihas always getting what they want. While all of us know that when Tsunade says no one, she _means_ no one, everyone in the room also knows that when Itachi Uchiha wants something, nothing will stop him.

The fact that I happen to be Itachi Uchiha has proven useful countless times.

Sakura and Karin shift uncomfortably, but it doesn't take long for Sakura to look to the ground and mutter, "You can probably go in."

As if what they said would matter to me.

I nod to them, and take a step to cross the room, but a hand catches my shoulder.

I turn to be confronted with Naruto's tired, haunted, worried face.

"If, by some miracle, he wakes up," Naruto says quietly, "Tell him…" His face twists in agony, and I know there are a thousand things that he wants me to say in that unlikely event. But he only shakes his head viciously, and spits out, "You better tell the Teme that if he doesn't get better real fast then I'm going to beat him so bad that he won't be able to move for a week!"

Personally, I think that's a little bit of a step back, but I do understand his meaning, and I nod to him, then move across the room. As I pass Kakashi, I murmur, "Make sure he and Sakura get some sleep," and he nods imperceptibly back to me.

Sakura and Karin step aside to allow me access to the door, and I open the door and step through into the hallway beyond with no hesitancy.

A couple of medic-nins with clipboards turn at the sound of the door closing, their faces strained and irritated, but when they see me, they, like Sakura and Karin did, pale, and when I ask, "Room number?" one of them thrusts out a piece of paper at me, biting his lip.

I take the piece of paper, look at the number written on it, and though I do my best to ignore the words that explain the injuries, I can't stop my eyes from zeroing in on the words _condition critical._

I find myself closing my eyes before I can read any more.

Eyes still closed, I hold the paper back out, and someone takes it from me.

I turn on my heel, opening my eyes as I stride down the hall, past doors and medics and patients. The words I read keep repeating themselves in my mind.

_Condition critical, condition critical…_

But Sakura and Karin think that he will be all right. For now, I will trust them more than the paper I have read. Mostly because I cannot bear to trust that paper.

I scale the stairs and ignore all the looks I receive, both covertly disapproving and frightened, until I come to stand before the door. I almost don't want to go in. But I haven't seen him since he was brought here to the hospital, and heaven help anyone, be they shinobi or demon, that tries to stop me.

I push the door open, not bothering to knock, and am greeted by the sight of Tsunade's back. She is half bent over the single bed in the room, blocking my view of its occupant, and I am almost glad.

Like the medics downstairs, she whirls when I shut the door behind me, but unlike them, she does not cower when she sees who I am. Instead, her face becomes furious, and she says, "I guess I can't do anything now that you're here, can I?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. It is a rhetorical question, so I make sure to treat it as such.

"Those girls need to develop backbones," Tsunade mutters as she glares at me before waving me closer to the bed.

My steps as I walk closer are sure, right up until Tsunade moves just enough to allow me a glimpse of the individual on the bed.

At first glance, the person looks beyond dead. Bandages cover his chest, forehead, arms and legs. What little skin that can be seen is colored by bruises, and an IV drip is attached to his arm. His eyes are closed, dark lashes laying against pale skin, and even with my Sharingan, it is difficult to spot the rise and fall of his chest. I've seen people in worse condition, of course. I've put many of them in those conditions myself.

But I cannot stop the feeling of my heart being squeezed from overtaking me. Suddenly I find myself almost gasping for breath, as if a vise is closing around my chest.

Because that is _my little brother_ lying there, so still and so pale. That is _Sasuke _who is in critical condition, and could still die.

I don't realize that I've frozen, eyes wide and staring, until I feel Tsunade's hand on my shoulder and her voice, just slightly more gentle than usual, saying, "He'll live, Uchiha."

Still not fully in control of myself, I allow her to lead me to a chair at the side of the bed, and sit down when she pushes me.

"Sit tight," she tells me. "Sakura and Karin should be back to check on him in a half-hour or so." Her face goes hard and she says, "But if you do one single thing to upset or injure my patient, even if he's an Uchiha too, then you won't ever be allowed within a five-mile radius of the hospital!"

I only nod, my eyes fixed on my unconscious brother's face.

I am not aware of when Tsunade leaves, only that the next time I look around the room, my brother and I are alone.

I want Tsunade to come back. What if something happens? What if I don't know what to do? What if no one gets there in time? What if… What if Sasuke dies and it's my fault?

A low growl makes its way up my throat. Never am I so weak as I am when I am worried about my brother. It is a blow to my Uchiha pride, but I know that it will never change. I'm not sure I want it to.

I drop my head to my hands, swallowing once before speaking, needing the silence to be filled.

"You know, I very nearly killed Shikamaru when he told me that you had been injured. Luckily for him, he suspected that I wouldn't spare him because he was only the messenger, so he was prepared for my outburst. He really would be dead otherwise. Kakashi was the one carrying you back into Konoha, but when I met him and Sakura and Naruto at the gates, I took you away. I wouldn't actually let anyone else touch you until we arrived here. Jugo and Suigetsu had to be restrained by Neji, Kiba, Lee and Tenten, or they probably would have ripped you right out of my arms. Karin was more controlled, which is why Tsunade allowed her and Sakura to assist her once we got to the hospital."

I want to look up at him, but I don't dare. The sight of him is physically painful to me.

"I've been sitting in that room for six hours, you know." I let out a quiet laugh. "Heh. At least I actually had a little bit of sleep before I came here. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi came straight from the mission, and while I trust Kakashi can handle it, Naruto and Sakura are about ready to fall over. Neither of them would even consider rest until they knew whether or not you were going to live, of course. Even now, I doubt they'll leave the hospital. I hope Kakashi makes them sleep."

I absently tug a strand of hair that has fallen over my shoulder. "If Kakashi hadn't been there, I don't think that I would have even heard the story. Naruto is near catatonic, and Sakura was either hysterical or out of the room. Heh. It didn't really surprise me, though. You always were an idiot."

When I raise my hand to my face, I find that it is shaking.

I curse quietly and drop my hand, clenching it into a fist. Unbidden, my mind flies back to those first few hours of torture.

After I had nearly leveled Shikamaru, I had run to the gates of Konoha and intercepted the former Team Seven, practically ripping the broken body of my baby brother away from Kakashi. They had been on a nostalgic mission, one of those ones that isn't supposed to provide any difficultly and inevitable does. They had all been together more for kicks than anything else, but it was best that it was those four who had gone. They are so close, so perfectly coordinated when working with each other. I honestly don't know if any other team can compare. So when they were set upon by nothing short of an army of rogue ninjas, they were probably the team that could have best handled it. And from what Kakashi told me, everything was going wonderfully until Naruto lost track of a single enemy for just a moment. For a ninja of any level of skill, even a split second is enough, and Naruto's slip could have been fatal… If Sasuke hadn't jumped in front of him. Again.

I don't know what it is about my brother. I'm almost certain that he isn't suicidal (though I'm horrified to admit that it wouldn't really surprise me), but I swear that there are better ways to save a life then to use yourself as a human shield. But I suppose that Sasuke's way is his own, and even if he doesn't realize it, he always was a dramatic person.

So he jumped. Blocked the shot. He didn't come out on top.

The chakra loaded shot had almost demolished his left side, and the fact that his head had hit a rock when he went down led to a concussion and excessive blood loss. No one had thought he would survive, but Kakashi told me that as they ran back to Konoha, Naruto kept babbling about how Sasuke wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't leave them. He was stronger than that, better than that. Sakura had kept up a string of pleading words, seemingly directed at anyone who was listening. Kakashi hadn't told me how he himself had initially reacted, but when Shikamaru had stopped by the hospital a few hours into the surgery, he had told me in his usual bored tones that a great deal of the ninja had seemed to have met their death by Chidori, and I had no doubt that Kakashi had severely overtaxed himself.

I don't know how I would have reacted. I don't _want _to know. I just know that it wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

And now here I am, staring at my clenched hand and hoping against hope that Sasuke will be okay. It doesn't matter how many medic nins reassure me, it doesn't matter who they are, I won't believe that he is fine until I see him open his eyes and smile… Okay, not smile at me. Maybe glare. Yeah, probably glare.

The door creaks open, and I snap my head up, schooling my features back into an impassive mask and sitting up straight, Sharingan spinning in case the intruder isn't friendly.

The pink hair and green eyes lined with tiredness allow me relax, just enough, and I nod once, tense, to Sakura, who smiles apologetically.

"Sorry," she says quietly, "I just have to check on him."

I nod again, still refusing to look at my broken brother, focusing instead on Sakura's face as she approaches the bed. Her face, already tired, absolutely collapses as she looks down at Sasuke, and one of her hands instinctively reaches out to touch him before she pulls the limb back to her side. She shakes her head once, then goes about checking all his vitals and the bandages with a professionalism that is only faintly tinged with personal concern. When she finishes, she turns back to look at me, and I suppose that my face must show more desperation than I realize, because her expression softens, and she says very, very quietly, "He'll be fine. As if he would let a simple fatal injury kill him."

If I had an ounce less of control, then I would let out a strangled laugh, but all I can do now is nod.

Sakura's face softens even farther and I, who do not take comfort from anyone, find myself unable to move as she crosses the room and leans down, wrapping her arms around me.

I am shocked that she would –_dare—_to touch me, but I am immobile within the circle of her small arms, and I can only stare at her as she pulls away, raising a hand to rub away the new tears as she mumbles. "Sorry. Sorry. I'll go now."

She turns to leave, but as her hand touches the door, a voice, which could only be mine, whispers, "Thank you," and she spins around, her tired eyes wide with shock.

"What did you say?" she demands, and I can only reply, "You should get some sleep."

For a moment, the two of us are caught staring at each other, then Sakura nods and says, "Yeah…"

I have never liked her as much as that moment, as she let what may or may not have been said drop and exited the room.

But now I am alone with my brother once more.

I drop my gaze to my hands again, and I let out a long breath. Had I been holding my breath? Apparently.

I clasp my hands together, resting my elbows on my knees as I drop my head to my joined hands. My voice is low as I begin speaking yet again.

"I understand the need to protect your teammates. I understand the need to continue the mission. But I'm honestly not sure that I understand the concept of friendship. And I don't know if I understand _your _concept of friendship." I shake my head. "Never mind. I _know_ that I don't understand your concept of friendship."

"'S simple."

For a moment I don't register that someone besides me has spoken.

Then I whip my head up so fast I am honestly surprised that my neck doesn't snap, and I find myself staring into the dark, pained, glazed, and most decidedly open eyes of my younger brother.

Typical of me, the first thing I say is not an inquiry about his well-being. Instead, I blurt out, "How much did you hear?" How embarrassing for your little brother to catch you talking to… well, essentially yourself, since you didn't think that anyone else could hear you.

Sasuke lets out of the barest of chuckles as I frantically scramble to arrange my scattered thoughts, and his whisper-quiet voice, harsh with injury to his throat, breathes out, "Teammates. Friendship."

So he hadn't heard the rest. That, at least, was good.

It is then that it hits me that he is awake and talking to me, and, therefore, still most definitely alive…

Fortunately for me, the only reaction that manages to leak out of me, betraying my swirling emotions, is a sharp gasp and the slightly breathless "You shouldn't be awake."

In a predictable Uchiha move, he responds in his injured voice, "You shouldn't be freaking out."

"Touché," I say, before my brain can process that I just admitted to freaking out.

I let out a curse, and Sasuke gives a weak little laugh before hissing in pain and stiffening, his eyes squeezing shut. I am immediately alert, but before I can say anything, Sasuke bites out, "No, you don't need to call anyone. I'm fine."

I doubt the truth of that statement, but I stay in my seat.

After a moment, he opens his eyes and asks, "What happened, exactly?"

I shrug, more tense than I would like to be. "You jumped in front of Naruto. You got hurt. They brought you back here. That's about it."

Even practically at death's door, Sasuke manages to raise a sardonic eyebrow. "I'm sure that's about it."

I don't comment.

Another silence.

"What were you saying?" I finally ask. "When you first spoke?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes to look at the ceiling. "I was saying that it's simple."

I remain silent, waiting for him to continue.

"You said that you didn't understand my concept of friendship. It's simple."

I raise an eyebrow, and even though he isn't looking at me, I know he sees it.

"I will do anything and everything for them, no matter what the cost may be to myself, because they are important. I will protect them even if it means my death, because they are precious to me."

Obviously.

His explanation is spoken in an unusually mild voice, and he does not look at me. It is a somewhat blunt, straightforward explanation. I tell him as much.

His expression is both bland and passionate at once. "It's true. I see no reason not to be blunt."

Now his face grows thoughtful, and he says, "Maybe it's the wrong approach; there are probably better ways to show my feelings towards my friends."

I contemplate this. I am not and never really have been involved in such things as "friendships." It isn't something that I ever saw as important. But as an outsider, I can observe and analyze the actions of my brother and his friends. He treats them with impassivity the majority of the time. He doesn't see the need for constant expressions of comradeship. And yet, in times like these, he will show, time and time again, that he will give anything, even his life, for those he considers his friends.

I shift in my seat, watching my little brother. He needs to sleep, I know, but I can tell that he is seeking for some form of absolution: he wants to know that what he did was not a pointless effort.

"I'm the worst person to talk to about this," I say candidly.

A ghost of a smile drifts across his tired and wounded face. "I know."

It's not my way to elaborate upon what I want to say, and me actually wanting to say something is rare in any case, so all I say is, "I think they understand."

Most other people would not spot it, but I know my brother, so I see the muscles in his face relax, and a more peaceful expression than usual dominates his features. He opens his mouth to speak again, but I say quietly, "You should go back to sleep. If nothing else, Tsunade might skin me alive for keeping you from your healing."

Sasuke's lips curve up in a smile, but he is already drifting off, so the last thing I say to him is, "Naruto wants me to tell you that if you don't get better quickly, he's going to inflict sever injuries upon your person."

"Idiot," was the third to last word that my brother muttered. The second to last and last were "Thank you."

I watch him, thinking, until Tsunade comes in and tells me that since Naruto and Sakura are all asleep, and Kakashi went home, I should sleep as well. I consider telling her that Sasuke was awake and talking, but she would probably berate me for not coming and getting her, so I remain quiet.

When I make my way through the halls and out into the waiting room, I'm not surprised to see that Naruto is asleep on the floor, while Sakura is curled up in a chair. They're going to be sore when they wake up. Tsunade offered to let me stay and sleep at the hospital, but I know now that Sasuke will be fine, and he won't appreciate me doing anything that could be interpreted as coddling now that he'll be fine. I bid farewell to the few hospital staff that are still awake with a nod of my head, and then make my way home.

When I arrive at the Uchiha complex, I am immediately set upon by Suigetsu and Jugo, demanding information, which leads me to believe that Karin is still at the hospital, because if she had returned, she would have told them what she knew. Hopefully Tsunade made her sleep as well. I tell the two members of Taka that Sasuke will be fine, though I doubt Tsunae will let them see him for a few days. They calm down marginally, though they are still tense, because they do not have the absolute surety that Sasuke, wounded nigh unto death for the sake of his friends, will be fine, that I do.

I leave the two of them to their broodings, making my way up into my room and shutting the door behind me, making sure to lock it.

I sit on my bed, cross-legged, and look at my hands, thinking of what my brother has said. Friendship. I still don't see the point, the importance of such a thing. But my brother, contrary to what some may think, is not an idiot. He would not give his life for something that does not mean everything to him. Friendship, then…

I lie down on my back staring up at the ceiling and contemplating.

Perhaps it is a concept I shall have to explore.

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**Yeah, so, something…**

**Did this turn out all right? I don't even know.**

**Um… Review. It makes me happy.**

**Oh, that wasn't a nice way of asking. I'm sorry. How about this.**

**To my Dear and Wonderful readers:**

**I would most greatly appreciate it if you, my Dear and Wonderful readers, would take the time to review, even if it is only one word. I take great delight in getting responses from my Dear and Wonderful readers, who are you, so if you feel so inclined, I would be deeply indebted to you if you would drop a review. **

**Sincerely,  
~Snake**


	14. Fun

Holy cow, it's been a long time.

My deepest and most sincere apologies for taking so freaking long. But I was doing the National Novel Writing Month in November, and the rest of my life has been grossly stressful, making me go all sorts of emo. Blech. My life could be better at the time.

_AND MATT FREAKING GOT SHOT THIRTEEN TIMES AND DIED!_

_*****sits in the corner and quietly strangles the creators of __Death Note __because they killed Matt and Mello__*_

_Anyhow. Here is my latest part. I don't know what I think of it, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be funny or serious (?) but here it is. And hopefully it's not too late that any ideas of a possible Sasuke/Temari fic are thrown out the metaphorical window… *__looks hopefully at LadyQuintessence*** **__I updated! See?_

_Do enjoy, yeah?_

_Oh. And I should also mention that Itachi has some MAJORLY OOC moments in here. Which I really do aplogize for. Sorry. I have to get used to writing for him again, and not my own characters, for whom "schizophrenic" is a **mild** description..._

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**14. Fun**

I'm fairly certain that there's a quote somewhere about how all work and no play makes some generically named child a dull boy or girl. I think my mother used to use it all me all the time, in hopes that I would leave my studies just for a little while and go do something normal for children of my age. I seldom, of course, despite the fact that my natural genius would have kept me at the top of my classes even without my studying. And the few times I did do anything normal were few and _very_ far between.

My mother, I am sure, was rolling over in her grave at how dull I had become. All she had ever wanted was for me to have fun…

And the saddest thing was that my darling little brother had followed all too well in my footsteps. Mother would murder me for ruining my little brother.

Stuck being both the brother and parent as I was with the deaths of our parents, I have to admit that I found it hard to bear, that utter devotion Sasuke had to his work. It made me wonder if I was as harsh and unsmiling when I was his age… And it made me wince to think that I had treated my mother's suggestions to play like Sasuke treated mine. The child's glare it far too advanced for his age of eleven years. I can't even _begin_ to imagine what type of angst-ridden child he's going to be when he reaches the teen years…

But I do suppose that it was the fact that he was so unapproachable and reserved that made the few times he let go so satisfying.

There was one time that I remember a bit more clearly than the rest, maybe because… Well, I suppose Sasuke isn't the only one who occasionally needs to relax a little.

We had just had the first big, land-covering snow of the winter season, and I was walking home from a variety of stores I had been visiting, hands shoved in my pockets and breath misting out into the air, glad I had had the foresight to bring gloves with me. I hadn't seen Sasuke all day, though I imagined that he'd spent the entire training his poor little head off, which meant that he'd be angry and sullen, because he never felt that his training went like he wanted it to.

Not, of course, that he wasn't always angry and sullen.

Embarrassingly enough, I almost missed the small, dark-clad figure standing in the snow, head bent, staring down at the snow. There were a few kunai and throwing stars lying in the snow around him, and a couple of targets set up around the area. But there was no weapon in his hand, and he was still, just staring down at the snow piled around his feet.

Well, at least he'd actually worn a coat and gloves.

I wanted to go home, since I was cold, and I never really had liked the snow, but I figured that I should probably check on my increasingly introverted brother, so I let out a sigh and veered off the beaten path, trudging through the mountains of snow that were still being built upon by the gentle fall of white flakes.

I stopped at Sasuke's side, bumping him with my arm as I asked, "What are you doing?" sincerely hoping that he wasn't going to freak out on me and go into one of his emo moments.

It took Sasuke a while to respond, and when he did, his voice wasn't angry like I expected it to be, but rather deeply, deeply thoughtful.

"Itachi, do you remember when we were little?"

"You're still little," I replied easily.

Sasuke looked up at me with a smile, and I arched an eyebrow at him. It was true. What did he want me to do about it?

He continued to glare, so I sighed and said, "Yes, Sasuke, I remember when we were little." Like I would ever forget _anything._

"Well…" He shifted one of his feet through the snow, then lifted it and stomped down, leaving the messy imprint of a shoe in the snow.

I looked down at the footprint in the snow, feeling oddly sad for some reason I couldn't quite place.

"Do you remember how we used to play in it?"

I blinked.

"Pardon?"

Sasuke looked at me again. "The snow. Do you remember how we used to play in it?"

Oddly enough, those memories were vague. Only hazy images popped up in my mind, of white and cold and him and me.

"Huh," I said. "Sort of." Strange question for him to ask. I shrugged. "Seems like those days are behind us though, right?" I offered him a sort of absent look that was meant to replace a smile, which I really didn't do very often, then turned and walked away. He seemed fine, if a bit nostalgic, so I decided that I would go ahead and go home, since I was cold and-

_THWAK!_

The sensation of something cold—_icy cold—_hitting the back of my head and sliding down my neck into my shirt froze me in my tracks (no pun intended) and caused me to emit a very un-Uchiha-like gasp that may have been just slightly higher pitched then my normal tone. My back involuntarily arched, trying to get away from the snow, which was now melting on my back, and I was actually forced to hold in a _whimper_.

_I don't like the cold!_

I just stood there for a while, in shock, while the snow continued to melt against my skin, then I slowly, slowly turned around to look at Sasuke, who was standing there with another snowball in his hand, his expression one of belligerence.

He. Did. _NOT_.

"You weren't supposed to just leave after that," Sasuke said testily, glaring his little eyes out at me as I just stared at him in complete and absolute disbelief.

He had just hit me in the back of the head with a _snowball._

"You were supposed to acknowledge that we used to play in the snow, and then say something like, "We should try it again," or something, not just shrug it off and act like it never happened and would never happen again."

A _snowball_. Made of _snow_. In a _ball_. He hit me in the BACK OF THE HEAD WITH A SNOWBALL.

"You're the one who's always telling me that I have to act like a normal kid," Sasuke continued, still sounding exceptionally disgruntled, "And then when I practically offer you a chance to encourage me to have fun, you just give me a stupid look and say that it's a pity those days are behind us. Are you stupid?"

My little brother hit me in the back of the head with a snowball. He knows how much I hate being cold. He _knows_.

"Everyone calls you a genius and all, but really, Itachi, how could I have made that any more obvious? I used to love snow, because we used to play in it. Together. Like idiots." He was sounding almost disgusted now, and he repeated, "Are you stupid?"

He throws a snowball at me, he lectures me, he calls me stupid…

I made a split second decision. That kid was going to die.

Sasuke was barely able to let out an _oof!_ before he was knocked off his feet and into a snowbank by a tightly packed snowball the size of his head.

Take _that_, and I dare you to call me stupid again!

He reemerged with snow covering his face and fire in his eyes, and before I could counter, the speed of the Uchiha had worked against me, allowing Sasuke to form at least twenty snowballs and hurl them at me with deadly accuracy.

I let out a curse and ducked behind the nearest cover I could find, which was one of the tree stumps that Sasuke had been using as a target back when he was still practicing with weapons, and my mind began to churn out ideas. I would need an easily defensible base, and a stockpile of weapons, and a plan of attack…

Thus began the most intense snowball fight Konoha had ever seen. The strategy, the skill, the speed… all of them would have left the rest of the ninja world gaping in awe, while Sasuke and I were concerned only with beating the living daylights out of each other through the use of snowballs.

It had started off as a long-range, sneak-attack type battle, but by the time an hour had passed, we were less then three yards away from each other, pummeling each other with balls of tightly packed snow, or else just grabbing armfuls of the stuff and chucking it at each other, hoping some of it would find its way down the back of a shirt. Not long after that, we were practically rolling over each other, our attempts to shove snow down the other's back becoming less and less serious as we both began to dissolve into helpless laughter.

Yes, to my shame, I was actually laughing. Out loud. In a manner that wasn't evil.

Pretty soon, neither of us had the energy or concentration to continue out attacks, and so both of us just fell on our backs in the snow and tried to restrain our helpless laughter. As we did, we became aware of the fact that both of us were soaked and freezing. But we didn't do anything about it, just laid there, staring up the sky and blinking at the swirling snowflakes.

Eventually, when we had both fallen silent and the snow, muting sound as it did, had turned everything peaceful, Sasuke said, "Itachi?"

"Hmm?" I replied, wondering why I didn't stare at snow more often. The way it swirled around was absolutely fascinating…

"That was fun."

That stopped my thoughts in their tracks. Fun. There was an interesting concept. It wasn't what I thought when I was studying. It wasn't what I thought when I was fighting. It wasn't something I thought had ever been needed. But maybe our mother had been on to something.

"Mother always did want us to play more," I said absently, holding out my hand and enjoying the feel of the snowflakes landing on it and melting.

For a while, we just lay there, watching the snow, becoming more and more cold, though neither of us really cared.

I don't know how much more time passed before Sasuke said, once more, "Itachi?"

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know about you, but I'd really not prefer to die of becoming a human snowman."

For some bizarre reason, I got this mental image of an incredibly disgruntled looking snowman with spiky hair and I cracked up all over again, rolling over in the snow and laughing at my mental imagery, while Sasuke just looked on, bemused.

Eventually the two of us got home, and when I realized how long we had been out there, I made a mental note to thank every single ancestor we had that neither of us had gotten frostbite, or gotten sick and died.

It took us three days to fully recover from the chills, though.

After that point in time, both of us made at least a little bit of an effort to enjoy ourselves a bit more, though, being ourselves, the means with which we entertained ourselves were often just a tad sadistic. But hey, pain is funny. No lie. And every once in a while, when one of us felt that we both were becoming just a bit too dull, we would find the other and give a meaningful glance that meant it was time to unwind just a tad.

Sometimes it was stupid things, like pulling Naruto-esque pranks on people, sometimes it was private things, like have colossal water wars in the house (which would have sent our father rolling in his grave had he known), but both of us tried to allow ourselves at least one day where we let out, and acted like the children that, in all honesty, we still were.

It's crazy what a little bit of fun can do for you, you know that?

Somewhere out there, I am sure that our mother has a smile on her face.

* * *

_Just randomly… You have no idea how funny kidneys can be._

_Also randomly, I love snow. On the first big snowfall we had where I live, I spent an hour making snowballs. I made 100. And I lined them up on a bridge and then knocked them into the water, because it entertained me. Good times._

_Oh, and I didn't edit this. Because I jsut barely wrote it._

_Review! Reviews make me happy, and I need happiness in my life. *__**insert puppy-dog eyes here**__*_

_Please?_

_Anyhow. I greatly appreciate any and all who are reading this fic, and hopefully it doesn't suck or start to suck or anything. If it does… tell me. So I can quit while I'm ahead or whatever._

_Yup. Just like that._

_Thank you muchly!_

_~SNake_


	15. Weakness and Strength

…_Wow… It's been a while._

_So. About a week ago, I went walking with one of my friends in the rain for over an hour… And it was freezing, and I didn't have a coat (or even full sleeves on my shirt), and while it was a fantastic walk/talk with my friend… I've pretty much been sick ever since. And I really hate being sick. But the one fun thing about being sick is that nearly every time I'm sick, I make some character sick as well… *insert evil laughter here*_

_Oh, yeah. I have fun with it. _

_So. Since my muse has, for the moment, returned, I am going to see if I can get this one out speedily, and then try and work out where I'm going from here… Sure is true. And… I'll bet that everyone is a tad OOC in here, because I'm a tad OOC… O_o Being sick does weird things to me._

_Oh. And be aware that this has not been edited at all. I'll probably go proof-read it later, but if you see any glaring errors, do excuse them. _

* * *

**15. Weakness and Strength**

I honestly can't ever remember being sick. I remember my mother worrying over me, saying that if I stayed out in the rain too long I might catch a cold, or if I didn't eat enough vegetables, I would get sick, but it never happened. My take on that was that I was just strong enough to get away with being consistently healthy.

Though I always used to wonder if you really would get sick if you didn't eat enough vegetables, or if that's just one of those things parents always tell you.

Anyhow. I don't remember getting sick. But I _do_ remember Sasuke getting sick.

…I wonder if that's selective memory… But I doubt it.

Sasuke getting sick was always terribly entertaining, though. Because though he always acted so tough, the moment he got sick, he transformed into a pathetic, whiny kid who actually acted his age. He would come into my room with weepy eyes, a red nose, and a whimpered, "Itachi…"

In a bizarre way, he was kind of cute. Not that I would ever tell him that. Or admit to using the word "cute" in a manner that wasn't entirely disgusted and demeaning. Regardless, Sasuke was endlessly entertaining when he was sick, if only because of how generally pathetic he was. So I would tease him mercilessly, call him my foolish, _foolish_ little brother whenever he got sick, jokingly lament that fact that he was so weak as to fall prey to the ills of the body.

It had been a while, though, since the last time Sasuke had gotten sick. Or at least a while since he had let me know. So when I woke up one morning to coughing, I was a little thrown.

For a moment, I just laid there in my bed, trying to figure out what the sound was. Then I realized that it was coughing and felt like a complete fool. But I hadn't heard such a sound within the Uchiha complex for over a decade, so I felt relatively excused for my moment of blankness. I relaxed back into my bed, feeling slightly smug that I had so easily figured out what the sound was.

Then I felt like a fool all over again, because it hit me that the only other person in the house (or the entire compound) was Sasuke, which meant that _Sasuke_ was _coughing._

Yes, that was an issue.

I groaned, reluctantly removing myself from the blessed warmth of my bed, and stumbled out my door and down the stairs, arriving in time to see Sasuke slightly bent over, one arm wrapped around his chest while he coughed into the elbow of the other arm.

Still tired and minorly disgruntled for having had to vacate my bed, I leaned against the wall, watching as my brother straightened himself. He let out a deep sigh, wearily running a hand through his hair as he cursed.

"Language," I admonished him, and he started, spinning around.

"Itachi," he growled, folding his arms across his chest—almost as if it hurt.

I arched an eyebrow at him, letting my silence speak the volumes that I knew he would understand. Sasuke just shrugged, masking his face in one of those impassive expressions that our family tends to do far too well.

"I have a mission with the team," he said, dropping to one knee and tucking more shuriken into the bandages wrapped around his legs. "I don't have time for you." He meant the late Team Seven, of course, which, let's be honest here, should have just stayed together. They spent as much time together as a team as they used to, but officially, they weren't connected. But they essentially were.

I shifted, leaning my head against the wall. "Oh," I said lightly. "I'm offended, little brother. Ditching me for your teammates _again?_"

He didn't look very sad about it.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, still just watching, waiting for him to crack.

He stood, picking up his katana and unsheathing it briefly. "Just a couple of rogue nins that need to be taken care of. Nothing big."

"But you seem a little unwell," I said.

You know how sometimes, when someone starts talking about how, for example, their knee is itching, and then _your_ knee starts itching? That's what I was trying to pull here. Because I trusted Sasuke to be able to keep in his coughing… right up until I mentioned it.

It worked, of course. Because I am brilliant, and thus all my ideas are brilliant. And they work. Because I am just amazing like that.

Anyhow. My point is that as soon as I mentioned his being unwell, he coughed.

I smiled innocently at him, and he snarled, "You planned that."

Obviously.

Sasuke shook his head, irritated, and said, "I'll be fine. It's just a little cold."

I did my annoying eyebrow-arch again and didn't say anything.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, because, even I will admit, when I've been forced to abandon my warm bed, I tend to be a little obnoxious. But hey. What else are older brothers supposed to do? Especially when their siblings are overly-angsty, vampiric looking Uchihas with penchants for answering any inquiries with the non-word "Hn."

Sliding his katana into his belt, Sasuke shrugged off my lack of real concern and said, "I have to go. I'll see you later."

And with that touching farewell, Sasuke disappeared out the door, off to have fun with his little ninja friends.

…That was a joke. Naruto is a giant.

But with Sasuke gone, my troubles were also gone, and I wasn't terribly concerned for Sasuke's health and welfare. He was a big boy now, and I trusted that he would be fine by the time he got out there. So I just shrugged, made my way back upstairs, and fell asleep again.

Give me a break. It was four in the morning. Even shinobi have to sleep _some_time, and it isn't my fault that Kakashi picks the most unholy hours to start missions. Though he probably wasn't going to get to their designated meeting place until around six. Oh, the wonders of getting lost on the path of life…

I woke up again around eight, and since I didn't have anything else to do, I stayed in the house, cooking breakfast, planning out the rest of my week, cleaning weapons. I hadn't expected Sasuke back until later that evening, whether it was because the mission took that long, or because Naruto and Sakura dragged him out to Ichiru's for ramen, so I made no preparations for his returning.

I was surprised, then, when I heard a knock on my door at about noon, and opened it to find a _very_ irritated looking Sakura and Naruto, both with an arm around my dear little brother.

Oh, joy.

I gave them all a flat look and inquired smoothly, "What are you doing here?"

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke, who gave a weak "Hn."

See what I mean?

I folded my arms and leaned against the doorframe, blatantly blocking all entry into the house. If they wanted in, they were telling me why.

"Sasuke," Sakura said tightly, "Is ill."

Ugh, that? Really, didn't they trust that if he were really that sick, he would mention it or something?

Sasuke broke out in a fit of coughing that doubled him over, and my eyebrows flew up on my face

What had I been thinking? Of course he wouldn't mention it. This was Sasuke Uchiha, after all, my idiot of a brother, who was killing even more brain cells as he coughed so hard that I thought he was going to vomit.

Not wanting to express any amount of concern while there were semi-reliable witnesses around, I waited until Sasuke's impromptu coughing concert had ended until I cleared my throat and spoke, practically oozing boredom.

"Dear me. What _have_ you been doing to yourself, little brother?"

Saskue glared at me through watery eyes and Sakura snapped out, "He spent ages training in the rain last week, which you_ should_ have stopped him from doing, and I'm certain he hasn't been getting enough sleep. He said that you saw him off this morning, so you should have noticed that he was unwell and made him stay here! Especially with how the rain is even worse today then it has been all month."

Oh, fantastic. Now I was the big, bad brother who had thrust his poor and sickly little brother out into the pouring, icy rain. The age old question "Am I my brother's keeper?" popped into my head, but I kept that one inside.

I looked at Sakura flatly for enough time that it got uncomfortable, and her angry face started turning into her "oh-crud-I-just-told-off-_Itachi_-_Uchiha_" face, before I arched one eyebrow at her and said emotionlessly, "You say that as if you assume I could actually make him stay in the house."

Sakura hesitated, and Naruto scowled mightily. Yes, I probably _could_ have forced him to stay in the house, but that would have resulted in a bit of a battle, and when Uchihas fight, people know. And then things just get awkward.

"Well…" Sakura started, and Naruto, seeing the little smirk that was beginning to grow on my face, quickly interjected, "Listen, Sasuke really isn't doing well."

As if to creatively punctuate this statement, Sasuke doubled over coughing again.

"He's been tripping and sliding all over the place, as well as periodically curling up and coughing, and even though he kept on insisting he was fine-"

"Which I am!" Sasuke snarled.

"-Kakashi stopped us and said that we needed to bring him back before someone got killed."

Sasuke dropped his head, fuming, but didn't say anything.

What an idiot. For a moment, I was actually a bit angry myself. He should know better than to risk the safety of his team by pretending that he was fine when he would be nothing but a liability. But I wasn't going to chew him out until his teammates were out of the compound and preferably back on their way to Kakashi.

I let out a deep sigh and wove a hand into my hair, looking at Sasuke dispassionately. "Well, then. I suppose I'll have to let him back in and make him go back to sleep."

Sakura made a move to step around me and lead Sasuke into the house, but I didn't move, and she was forced to pull her step back. I held out a hand in a magnanimous manner and flexed my fingers, saying, "You'd best give him to me, then."

Sakura and Naruto both glared at me, most likely because of how utterly _caring_ I sounded, but they reluctantly passed my brother—get again doubled over in a coughing fit—over to me, and I grabbed him by his forearm. Giving him my most condescending look of false pity, I smirked at him and said, "I find it absolutely fascinating that after all these years, you still manage to stun me with your stupidity."

When Sasuke's face fell and then immediately closed off, I inwardly cursed. He really was in a bad way, wasn't he? And not only had I failed to realize that he actually was sick, but now I had insulted him, and, instead of shrugging it off and insulting me back, he had taken it to heart.

I must have grimaced when Sasuke looked away from me, because Naruto said, "Uh… you'll be okay, right?"

Instantly, I schooled my face back into a perfect mask. "Fine, of course." I fluttered my free hand at them in a shooing motion and said, "Now run on back to Kakashi, will you?"

They hesitated for a moment, looking searchingly as Sasuke, but his face was still turned toward the ground, his arm limp in my grasp. The two of them shifted uncomfortably, but when I gave them a meaningful and long stare, they got the hint and murmured quiet words of farewell to their ailing team member before walking off with, I am sure, more than one concerned glace behind them.

But I didn't keep the door open long enough to see those glances.

Giving one sarcastic little wave to the retreating ninja, I pushed Sasuke inside, gently closed the door, and then slammed my little brother up against the wall and demanded in an icy-cold voice, "Why didn't you tell me that you were actually sick?"

My moment of dramatic villainy was rather slashed right down the middle by Sasuke turning his head away and convulsing within my grasp as he coughed like his chest was going to explode.

And now I _really_ felt like the big bad brother. Well, blast.

With a sigh, I let Sasuke down, and he immediately collapsed on his knees, hands clutching at his chest. Dear me, what a stubborn child.

"Really, Sasuke," I said, rubbing a hand against my temple. "Do you have to be such a blind imbecile?"

On his knees, Sasuke cringed, very slightly, and I cursed myself. Was he truly that weak right now?

"Ugh," I said, realizing even as I spoke that I was _still_ probably making the situation work. "I'm confining you to this house until you are better, and to your bed for as long as I can get you to stay there." I paused, thinking for a moment, then said, "And we are—or I am, rather—moving your bed down here, so that I can more easily keep an eye on you."

That said, I gave him a little smile, which was probably more smug than it should have been, and disappeared upstairs to drag his bed down. I figured that he probably wouldn't be able to move while I was retrieving his place of sleeping, and I needed to figure out exactly how I was going to deal with this. Because for some reason, Sasuke was shrinking under my mocking blows instead of defending himself and striking back, and I was more than a little worried.

Oh, bloody. I'd probably have to talk to him about it.

Grabbing a change of clothes for my brother, I made quick work of dragging Sasuke's bed down from the upstairs and placing it in the main room before turning back to the invalid. He was sitting against a wall, now. His elbows were resting on his raised knees, his hair hanging in his down-turned face, dripping water on the floor. I could hear his breathing from where I stood, whooshing in and out of his mouth in a ragged procession of inhales and exhales.

Ouch. He sounded like he was in pain.

Crossing over to my brother, I forced my long-suffering mask back on to my face, not yet prepared to delve into Sasuke's psyche, which may well have been as sick as his body. I reached down, once more grabbing Sasuke by the forearm and hauling him to his feet. "Here you are," I said, pressing the clothes I had retrieved into his chest. "First, you need to rid yourself of general soppiness."

Wordless, Sasuke took the clothes and left the room.

Hmm. This really was an issue.

When he came back, he had both changed his clothes and dried his hair, which had been a dripping mass of wet, but his head was still hung and his eyes hidden from my view. He crossed to the bed wordlessly, just barely managed to sit down before the coughs once more began to wrack his frame. I had managed, in the few minutes he had been gone, to begin heating a kettle for tea, but I figured that the physical illness could wait longer than the psychological one. So, with a sigh born straight from my soul, I crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to Sasuke.

I waited once more for his coughing to subside before I leaned back on my elbows and said carelessly, "So… what seems to be the matter?"

This time, Sasuke managed a glare, and I shot him a lazy, falsely innocent smile in return.

"I'm sick, you complete _moron_," Sasuke snarled at me, doing a wonderful impression of a frog.

I thought it prudent not to laugh, so I only cleared my throat and said, "Beyond that, idiot. There's obviously more going on here. Being sick is only human, but denying you are sick when you seem on the verge of dying…" I shrugged. "That's clearly just a stupid, teen, Uchiha." Thank goodness I was no longer a teen, so that argument couldn't have been used on me.

Sasuke shook his head, turning away from me, and before I could stop myself, I snapped out, "I'm serious, Sasuke. You have me worried."

Sasuke's head whipped around, surprise lighting his eyes, and I grimaced. I hadn't meant for that to come out so… bluntly.

In a moment, Sasuke's face had shut down again, and he turned away, saying dispassionately, "There isn't anything wrong."

I hit him on the back of the head. Hard.

With a curse, Sasuke flew forward, and would have flown straight off the bed if I hadn't grabbed him by the back of his shirt and tugged him backwards, giving him a whiplash as he thumped into the middle of the bed with a weak "_Oof!_"

Slamming one arm across his chest to keep him where he was, I loomed over Sasuke, throwing all cautions to the wind as I bit out in a harsh voice, "Sasuke, if I have to pry the truth out of you, I will. And I've spent more time with the Anbu than you have, so if anyone is going to win when it comes to interrogation, it _will _be me."

Sasuke tried to move, flames burning in his eyes, but I shoved him back down. "No, you are staying there until you tell me _what is going on._"

For a moment we were locked in a silent battle of burning eyes and steel wills, then Sasuke looked away, his face tired and drawn. When he spoke, his voice was almost too low and warped by his coughing for me to hear.

"You think me weak."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke coughed once, his eyes squeezing shut in more frustration than pain, though his eyes were watery when he opened them.

"Ever since I was little," he said, clearly with both great physical and emotional effort, "You always told me that I was weak, every time I would get sick. You laughed at me and mocked me for falling ill, always comparing me to yourself, telling me that you never got sick, so why should I?" He closed his eyes, weary, and muttered, "All my life, I've just been trying to get stronger. And now, even with everything I've done, and I can't even stop myself from getting a simple cold?" He gave a low chuckle, deep in his throat, then threw an arm over his face as he began coughing again. "Truly," he finished off, his voice bitingly harsh, "I don't think I will ever stop being weak."

I… was speechless. And stunned. And completely taken aback. And… _aching. _

My fault. Oh, truly, was this my fault?

I sat back, unable to keep my hold on my brother, and he forced himself back into a sitting position. He stood, and I think he was about to try and run somewhere, anywhere, as long as I wasn't there.

As if I could let him go.

"Sasuke," I said, very quietly.

He stopped, swaying slightly.

Wearily, I ran a hand through my hair, messing it up. I dropped my hand back to my laughing, shaking my head in a kind of horrified bemusement before murmuring, "_Foolish_ little brother."

I saw Sasuke's back stiffen, but before he could do something that he would regret, I grabbed his arm and tugged him back to the bed. Ill and generally unsteady as he was, he practically fell back with my tug, then just sat there as if he were dead, his head bowed against his chest.

Once more, I shook my head, marveling at how things had turned out this way, then I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and said lightly, "We really need to work on your sense of humor, Sasuke. I was joking. Always joking. It's what older brothers do."

Sasuke didn't say anything.

I let out a sigh. "I must admit that I always thought it was… Well, funny, when you were sick, because you were always so pathetic-" Sasuke shoulders tightened "-But I was also… Honored, in a way."

Sasuke looked up at me, and I continued, letting out another sigh. It really is a pity that these bonding moments are needed sometimes. Bonding is such a… gushy business.

"It made me… well, smug, really, to know that you would trust me enough to come to me at your weakest." I ran my hand through my hair again. "I suppose I shouldn't have teased you. But I always took care of you, didn't I?"

Grudgingly, Sasuke nodded.

I shrugged, uncomfortable now. I really had said too much. "I don't think you're weak, Sasuke. At least, no weaker than anyone else. No weaker than me."

His eyes lit up, just barely, and I quickly amending, "Well, you might be a _tad_ weaker than me. But everyone is."

A small smirk crept on to my brother's face, and he drew himself up, saying smoothly (or as smoothly as you can when you sound like a dying frog), "You never were very humble, Itachi."

We sat there for a moment, the two of us, both silent. I wasn't quite sure where to go from here. I never am after these disgusting moments of bonding.

"Hmm," I said eventually, and Sasuke looked up at me again. My tone was conversational, now, my face back to being a safe, passive mask. "I suppose this is the moment where we share a tearful hug or something." I shot Sasuke a flat glare. "Let it be known, then, that I am not hugging _anyone._"

Sasuke started laughing, then started coughing, then dissolved into a mass of amused pain.

Sasuke was sick for a little over a week. His attitude ranged from being relatively fine (when I was acting like nothing was wrong) to a bit frustrated (when I was mocking him) to completely homicidal (when I started calling him a sick little Sasuke kitty and baby-talking to him. I tell you, I thought I'd seen every bad side of Sasuke, but I had never seen _that_ part before. Good thing he was sick and too weak to move, otherwise things might have gotten just a bit awkward). Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi all stopped by, Naruto with (predictably) a huge bowl of ramen, Sakura with a whole speech about how best to take care of my brother, and Kakashi with his usual complete disregard of anything but his book.

Sasuke excepted all their visits will ill grace (both literally and figuratively), but they all knew him, so it didn't bother them. He did manage to pull himself together and act a bit more civilized when Hinata dropped by with a basket of tomatoes and a gentle smile, but for the most part, he remained pretty surly.

We didn't have any more mushy bonding moments while he was ill, though I did tread a bit more carefully (with the exception of the Sasuke kitty thing. But he was just screaming for that). And since we didn't have any more conversations delving into our warped psyches, I never got a chance to tell Sasuke that though I may have teased him mercilessly, and though I may still tease him, there I times when I wonder if Sasuke isn't stronger (or at least more stubborn) than I will ever be.

He walks a curious path, my brother. Torn between showing his strength through weakness, and showing his weakness through strength. I only hope that I will be able to walk his path with him, and provide him with the solidarity he may need if he begins to tip off his precariously balanced scale.

Not, you know, that I'm ever going to express this to him. Or hesitate to kill anyone who mentions it. Because while I may have my own weaknesses, for Sasuke, I will always be strong, no matter what it takes. And maybe some day, I'll even show him that no one is perfect, not even me (sadly). Maybe one day I will find the strength within me to show him my weaknesses.

* * *

_Whoo! And we're done!_

_Hmm. That was oddly cathartic… Weird._

_Anyhow. There you are, my newest chapter… I would greatly appreciate reviews, since they make me happy, and I need cheerfulness in my life right now. Because I really hate being sick… Anyhow. Also, as always, if I start to suck really badly, do let me know. Because I hate suckishness._

_Many thanks to you if you read this, and many more thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You people are all amazing._

_Thank you all!_

_~SNake_


	16. Happy Ending

_A/N: …Um, well, now that I'm pretty much officially the worst updater in the world… *laughs nervously* Heh. Good thing this story is pretty much just a bunch of oneshots, otherwise I'd probably be in dire straights. But in the whole mess of things, including (but not limited to) having a story-book summer romance (*happy dance*), subsequently convincing the guy I've liked since I was ten to leave me for two years (*sniff*), writing two off-pairing fics (for me at least—I did a Temari/Sasuke fic and a Sakura/Sasuke fic… You could totally go check them out! *hint hint*), completing my second National Novel Writing Month (I forget how happy writing makes me), and becoming more than a tad obsessed with the band Tokio Hotel (Oh, good heavens, "Don't Jump" has got to be the most perfect song in the world—I'm listening to it now. *momentarily dies in happiness*), I haven't had a chance to update this story. But I'm doing it now, so cheers all around, eh?_

_But I shall say no more, since I doubt you want to hear it. (But seriously, in the spirit of shameless self-advertisement, you should totally go check out "Like Home" and "Scars On Your Arms, Tears On My Face" on my profile. I'm actually quite pleased with both of them, and for me, that's rare.)_

_Anyhow. I'm seriously done now. :)_

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**16. Happily Ending**

"Itachi, will you tell me a story?"

He is all of eight, lying on his stomach on the floor, his feet absently kicking through the air. His arms are folded under his chin, and he is lolling his head from side to side, clearly bored. It is one of his soft moments, where he actually acknowledges that he's still a child, and should probably act like one every once in a while. Unfortunately for him, I'm not in an accommodating mood.

I look up from the scroll I am studying, already frowning. For some reason, a casual comment one of my fellow ANBU had made about great things becoming small had set me off, and I've been on edge all day. It is definitely not the best time to be asking me to tell a story. Sasuke, however, doesn't seem to pick up on that.

Purposefully, I make my voice sharper than usual as I reply, "I don't have time for a story, Sasuke."

My brother turns his own expression to a frown, mirroring my face, and says, "Yes, you do have time." I don't respond, so he pulls his lips into a pout, drawing his eyebrows down on his face as he says, "Come on, Itachi. Please?"

With that plea of his, I let the scroll snap shut, then set it on the low table in front of me. I am tired, sore, and in a remarkably bad mood. And since Sasuke seems not to realize this, and is thus furthering my foul mood by asking me for a story, I don't feel at all bad about taking out some of my frustration on him.

"Fine," I say, "I'll tell you a story."

Sasuke's eyes light up instantly, and he scrambles to his hands and knees before folding himself into a cross-legged position. Before he fully settles himself, he grabs a pillow from off the floor next to him, wrapping his arms around it. His eyes are bright, and a small smile is on his face. I find myself almost sneering at the ease with which he seems to forget the woes of the world and bury himself in his own selfish delight. And over such a simple thing, too. With the mood I am in, I am almost _offended_ by how easy it is for him to just smile.

I push my fingers through my loose hair, catching a few strands and twisting them as I think. It had been a while since I've told a story, but that isn't really relevant to the present situation, since I have no intention of a telling a story after the manner I usually employ. After all, I'm feeling like a realist today.

I pull my own legs up onto the couch with me, mirroring Sasuke's position as I clasp my hands in my lap, sitting perfectly straight and considering my brother with a less-than-kind look. After all, if he wants a story, I'll give him a story, and a slap or reality while at it.

"Once upon a time," I begin, because that is simply how a story is begun, and Sasuke is already curling into his pillow, eyes fixed unblinkingly on me as he waits for me to whisk him away to another world, one with no troubles.

No such luck.

"Once upon a time, there was a young boy who wanted more than anything to be a ninja. However, no one believed that he could do it. Not even his parents, who loved him, believed that he could be a ninja, because they all knew that he would never have enough skill."

A faint worry line appears on Sasuke's forehead. Apparently he is picking up that this isn't going to be like my usual stories. But his cry of "please?" has already doomed him to hear the story out to its bitter end. And, indeed, it will be bitter.

I continue uncaringly.

"The young boy trained hard, harder than anyone else he knew. There were many people who were impressed by his sheer dedication, but all those who watched him watched with eyes of sadness, because they all know that no matter how hard he tried, the power and skill he sought after would never be his. Time and time again, they told him this: "Stop now," they said, "Before this ends in heartache. Stop now, while you still have a chance." But he refused to listen to them, and continued to devote his entire life to his training.

"Days, weeks, months and years passed. The boy was no longer young, and in his obsession with his training, he had begun to drift away from his parents, deafening himself to their pleas.

"But then his work paid off."

Sasuke's face clears, a satisfied expression lighting his eyes as he tightens his grip on his pillow, settling himself even more comfortably. He doesn't know that I'm teaching him about happy endings and how they don't exist.

I keep speaking, trying not to let the bitterness show in my voice. Not yet. "After all his practice and training and dedication, the boy attracted the interest of the leader of a village, who approached him and offered him a chance to become a ninja, to finally become what he'd always dreamed of being. Ecstatic, the boy rushed home to his parents, speaking to them for the first time in months as he told them of his success. He had expected praise, expected his announcement to shatter the wall that had been built between he and his parents.

"Instead, his parents looked at him with their broken hearts showing in their eyes, and plead with him to return and tell the village leader that he couldn't do it. "Please," they begged him, "You know this can't end well." But he refused to see it, and he stalked out, swearing that he would never return until they could see him for the skilled and amazing ninja that he was, swearing that he would _prove _his worth to them."

Sasuke is frowning again, and I continue, no longer holding back the bitterness. "But in the end, everyone who had always told him that it was better not to try was right. Because one day, he missed a single rogue ninja, and when that same ninja attacked his home, his parents, nothing he did could stop them. And when he rushed home, the sight that greeted him was one of blood and death and pain. He stood there, gazing in horror at the bodies of his parents, too caught up in his pain to realize that he himself was in danger until the rogue ninja, who had been hiding in wait for him, stabbed him through the heart.

Now my little brother is looking at _me_ in horror, and I am suddenly weary, no longer wanting to drag this out. So I finish succinctly and tersely, saying, "And the last words that the boy who thought he could be great heard were, "You should never have tried.""

I shrug, trying for a manner of carelessness, and add, almost as an afterthought, "The end."

Sasuke lets out a disbelieving sound, the look in his eyes one of betrayal. "The end?" he echoes incredulously. "You can't end a story like that! It has to have a happy ending!"

"There's no such thing as a happy ending," I retort.

"You have to change it!" he insists. "Say that he came back, and he only thought that his parents were dead, and then he caught the rogue ninja and killed him, and then they lived happily ever after!"

My voice as I respond is practically a snarl. "No. I'm not changing the story just because you want me to. You can't always have what you want."

"Change it!" he repeats. "Make his parents come back!"

And I snap.

Surging to my feet, and I yell at my brother, "They're not coming back, Sasuke! Because life is cruel, and you need to understand that _we are never going to have a happy ending, because our parents are dead and they're never coming back!"_

Silence.

My eyes widen as I realize just exactly what I said, and widen further as I see the tears beginning to form in my brother's eyes. I mentally scream _What have you DONE?_ at myself, because I just made my brother—my innocent, eight-year-old brother—_cry,_ and a half-meant apology is stumbling out of my lips before I can think any further, because I _know_ that it is inexcusable that I said that. "Sasuke, I-"

"No," he cuts me off, and his voice breaks as tears continue sliding down his paler-than-usual cheeks. He repeats it, and that is all he says. "No." Then he gives me a final look of absolute heartbreak, and turns and walks out of the room. And I, trapped by the stupidity of my own words and the knowledge of what I have just done, am helpless to follow him.

The next few days are beyond tense. Sasuke is like a ghost, drifting through the house looking lost and pale and never speaking a word, and though I wish I could do something to help him, to take back what I said in my anger, I can find no words to undo the hurt I have caused. And a part of me still believes that I shouldn't have to take back what I said. It's the truth, isn't it? As much as it may hurt him, and as much as it may hurt me, it is the truth.

But still, I am responsible for the sorrowful state of my brother, and I am constantly wracking my brain for some way to bridge the sudden chasm between my brother and I. Because as much as I the to admit it, I need him, because he is all that I have left.

A week passes, in which we barely speak ten words to each other. Sasuke is withdrawn and pained and unresponsive, and I am tense and worried and growing increasingly frantic. I am far too young to be the parent of my brother, far too young to maintain the pretense that I don't feel just as much pain as he does. I am too young to try and protect him from life when my own defenses against the world are crumbling into hopelessness.

It is the middle of the night, and I am lying in my bed, unable to sleep. There are too many dark thoughts circling in my head. I am vaguely aware that I am hungry, but that's most likely because in the mess of things, I forgot to eat. Again. I am afraid, as I lie there, because a part of me whispers that if I don't fix what I have broken, I will lose my brother forever, but still, no solution to this problem I have created presents itself.

Then I hear my door creak open.

Instantly, I am adopt the manner of being asleep, completely relaxing myself and evening out my breathing as I shut my eyes and wait. It can only be Sasuke, of course, since he's come into my room often enough that I know his footfalls and pattern of breath, but why is he coming to my room? He's always come before, sliding into my bed when he's scared, worried, or just needs the company, but since I yelled at him, he hasn't sought me out.

It's surprisingly hard for me to continue pretending to be asleep as he comes closer. I just want to sit up, apologize, get him to talk to me, smile his goofy kid's smile at me again. But instead I remain still and silent, and listen as he perches on the chair by my bed. I can feel his eyes on me, and I am so intent in waiting for what he will do next that when he finally speaks, I almost jerk away, both from the sudden noise in the silence, and the words themselves.

"I'm sorry," he begins, and I feel an incredulous laugh bubbling in my throat. I force it back down, listening with shock as he continues, "I know it's hard for you. You think that you should have been there when they- when they died." His voice quavers, and I am certain that if I open my eyes, he will be crying again. "I know you think that maybe if you had been there, you could have stopped it, and maybe if you had been there, we would still be a happy family instead of being all broken like we are."

I feel an uncomfortable pressure behind my eyes, and I begin begging myself not to start crying. Not here, not now.

"But maybe," Sasuke says, in his broken and tear-filled voice, "Maybe there was nothing that anyone could have done. Maybe we were supposed to be broken, because maybe we're supposed to figure out how to have a happy ending even if we'll never get our parents back." He's crying in earnest, now, the quiet sobs almost obscuring his words, and it's all I can do not to wrap him in a hug when he grabs my hand and leans over me as he whispers fiercely, "I know you think that happy endings don't exist, Itachi, but I promise you that I'll work _so_ hard like you do, and I'll do all that I can, and we'll have a happy ending, because you deserve one."

The conviction in his voice is killing me, and I can't stop the few tears that slide from between my closed eyelids, hoping desperately that it is too dark for Sasuke to see. If I weren't such an emotional wreck, I would have to laugh, because I'm the one who should be apologizing and trying to comfort my little brother, and instead, Sasuke is lightly squeezing my hand and promising that he'll do everything he can to make sure that we make it out of this all right. I must have been an absolute _saint_ in a past life to deserve this angel as my brother.

Through a greater show of will than I thought I had, I keep my breathing even and my body still, since I think it would wreck the moment if I were to suddenly pop up and announce that actually, I was listening to that whole thing. So my hand stays limp in Sasuke's grasp, and I try to restrain my tears as he says once more with the perfect innocence and confidence of childhood, "We'll have a happy ending, Itachi. I know it."

For at least twenty minutes, I remain still in my bed while Sasuke clutches my hand like it's a lifeline and silent tears play over my skin. Finally, his breathing slows, and I feel his grip on my hand relax, and I carefully open my eyes. He is slumped in the seat, his hair in a disarray, his face marked by tears, and my heart breaks all over again.

Very slowly and gently, I slip my hand out from his now-loose grasp and sit up on my bed. Just as slowly and gently, I slide my arms around him and pick him up from the chair, moving him the short distance to my bed. I pull the covers up around him and sit back in the chair, still warm from his smaller body as I watch him.

I am the one who ends up falling asleep in the chair and waking up with a pain in both my back and my neck. But when I open my eyes and find Sasuke sitting up on my bed, watching me with worry in his eyes, I give him the smallest and saddest little smile. And when he returns my smile with one that is equally as small and sad, I decide that no matter what trials and horrors and pain we may face, I will do everything in my power to ensure that my little brother has a happy ending.

And as Sasuke wordlessly holds out his arms for a hug, and I just as wordlessly wrap him in my arms, I believe, for the first time since the death of our parents, that if we try, maybe we'll have a chance.

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_A/N: Yup. I have not the FOGGIEST idea where that came from. I apologize if it sucked royally; I'm having the biggest issues with focus these days, and I personally think it's showing in my writing. But hopefully it was okay? And, if it makes anyone feel any better, since this chapter was all sorts of serious, the next chapter (whenever I get around to updating again) is going to have to be a funny one… Now I just have to come up with a faintly humorous idea. (Psst. If you have an idea, feel free to share!)_

_Anyhow. I am seriously eternally indebted to all you that have reviewed. You are AMAZING. I cannot stress that enough. Reviews make me ridiculously happy. That said, I would love you forever and ever if you reviewed this latest chapter. Please tell me what you think, I swear it helps, in more ways than one._

_Thank you all for reading, and for sticking with me this long. Bless all your hearts._

_~SNake_


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